Opals mining for automatic World Cup qualification

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The Australian Opals head into a crucial week of basketball as the 2025 FIBA Women’s Asia Cup gets underway on Sunday, July 13, in Shenzhen, China.

The Opals enter the tournament as the #2 ranked team in the world but will be without all their WNBA stars and the likes of China and Japan, who have continue to present major problems for Australia, remain dangerous.

Despite many of the 2024 Olympic bronze medallists not suiting up for this tournament due to WNBA commitments, including head coach Sandy Brondello, Cayla George and Izzy Borlase are in the squad, and both will play vital roles for the Opals.

With superstars missing, opportunity presents itself to players who have taken the next step in their respective careers in the last 12-24 months and been duly rewarded. This Opals squad is filled with players who are each a story of individual perseverance.

The improvement from Courtney Woods, Ally Wilson, and Miela Sowah during the past 24 months has been incredible, and WNBL fans have had a front row seat. Woods and Wilson were both named to the 2024-25 All-WNBL First Team, while Sowah was a Second Team member.

Woods is the ultimate glue piece to any team she is on. She can play a lockdown role on defence or be the go-to scorer on offence, and you get the feeling she doesn’t mind which role she has on any given night.

Wilson has turned her career around in the past two WNBL seasons and that transformation led her to earning a training camp contract with the Chicago Sky this season. Unfortunately, she was waived prior to the season getting underway, but her growth is undeniable. Now a fully-fledged star of the WNBL, she makes her official Opals debut in this tournament.

It’s crazy to think that Sowah (nee Goodchild) didn’t get a WNBL contract straight out of college. After graduating from Duke University, she wasn’t signed by the Melbourne Boomers until during the 2022-23 WNBL season after injuries hit the squad. Since then, she has improved each season and is now one of the deadliest offensive threats in Australia.

Steph Reid is another that had to grind her way to being one of the best guards in the country. After four years at the University of Buffalo, Reid signed a development player contract with the Dandenong Rangers in 2018/19. Fast forward to today and her fierce play on both ends makes her a true difference-maker whenever she steps on the court.

When you talk about perseverance, look no further than Sara Blicavs. A year removed from spinal fusion surgery, Blicavs — an Olympian and World Cup bronze medallist — is back in the Green and Gold, and will bring valuable experience to the squad.

Abbey Ellis is a hawk on defence and a classy finisher on offence. She will suit up for Australia after Maddy Rocci sadly has had to withdraw from the team due to injury. Ellis was a key piece of Townsville’s run to the Grand Final last season in her rookie campaign, and she’s risen to the occasion every time she’s stepped up a level throughout her college and professional career.

Chloe Bibby, Zitina Aokuso, Issie Bourne and Alex Fowler will join George and Blicavs in the frontcourt and those six form a strong and deep rotation for coach Paul Goriss to work with. Bibby joins the team having made her WNBA debut last month with the Golden State Valkyries before being waived. She’s in career-best form and her long-range shooting will be vital against the dominant bigs in the tournament, forcing them to leave the paint and defend her on the perimeter.

The Opals will face tough competition, highlighted by tournament favourites China. It must be said, the hosts will be without key players Li Yueru and Li Meng, two mainstays in past major tournaments. In two warm-up games against China earlier this week, the Opals won the first encounter, 76-63, before falling 73-69, in the second game.

Issie Bourne led the scoring for Australia in the first hit-out with 15 points, pointing towards her already finding her footing at the senior international level.

There are so many storylines to follow, but the player I’m most looking forward to following is Borlase. She became an Olympic bronze medallist at just 19 years of age last year and had her best game of the tournament against the powerhouse USA team, when she scored 11 points in 14 minutes.

Clearly not overawed by the moment, she’s going to be playing big minutes for the Opals and when she plays at her pace and drives hard to the bucket as we all know she can, she’s unstoppable.

There are two groups and eight teams in the tournament. The Opals are in Group B and will face the Philippines on July 13 at 6:30pm (AEST), before taking on Lebanon a day later (July 14 at 6:30pm AEST). Undoubtedly, the game of group phase play is a match-up between Australia and Japan on July 15 at 6:30pm (AEST).

If things go to plan, the game against Japan will likely decide the winner of Group B and group games are vital, as the top team from both groups qualify straight through to the semi-finals. The second and third ranked teams must battle it out in do-or-die quarter-final match-ups.

The importance of this tournament can’t be underestimated as the winner earns direct qualification through to the 2026 World Cup in Germany. If Australia doesn’t win, they will have to qualify via the World Cup Qualifying Tournament early next year.

The Opals have won three consecutive Asia Cup bronze medals (2019, 2021 and 2023) and will be looking to break that streak by climbing higher on the podium this time around.