10
Sep
Cut to the Jase
Penny Taylor: Why shorthanded Opals can beat Spain
Alex Fowler, Zitina Aokuso and Isobel Borlase stand during the national anthem before the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026 match between Turkiye and Australia in Berlin, Germany, on September 6, 2026. Photo: Marcin Golba/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Podcasts
Taylor believes coach Sandy Brondello and the Opals still have plenty of fight in them
- Game One: Smith injury fears as Opals fight off Puerto Rico
- Game Two: Opals skipper makes it look Ezi to beat Turkiye
- Game Three: Belgian Revenge: Rivals maul Opals to top Cup group
Australian Opals legend Penny Taylor believes the traits that have made the green and gold uniform famous has her confident Sandy Brondello's team can cause an upset in the FIBA Women's World Cup quarter-finals.
The Opals will face Spain in the final eight clash in Berlin after a nail-biting two-point win over Italy less than 24 hours ago, where they held on despite leading by as much as 26 points.
But the victory will go down as one of the gutsiest wins in Opals history as Australia, already missing Sami Whitcomb and Alanna Smith, were dealt major blows as captain Ezi Magbegor went down with a knee injury and WNBA guard Jade Melbourne only played three minutes due to having the flu.
Young gun and WNBL MVP Isobel Borlase stepped up when it mattered most though, scoring 30 points off the bench, while Zitina Aokuso and Alex Fowler also had a major impact to keep their team's Cup chances alive.
Despite facing so much adversity and heading into the quarter-finals with Spain as underdogs, Taylor said the Opals always find a way.
"In my experience the Opals have always been very resilient, we've just found a way," Taylor said on the latest episode of the Cut to the Jase podcast.
"We've never made it an excuse and we've always just gone out there and given best effort.
"I think that's what makes us so good on the world stage is we have that character of fight and we're proud of that.
"I see that in this team as much as I saw it in the '96 team as in the 2004 team. We just have that mentality of fighting and never giving up.
"You saw that today even when it was getting close, we were fighting, we were fighting for rebounds, we were fighting for loose balls.
"It came down to an out of bounds play where we fought just to get a fingertip on the rebound.
"I love watching this team as I have all the Opals throughout the years."
Magbegor and Melbourne's status for the quarter-final is still unclear.
If the Opals can beat Spain, the win will set-up a semi-finals clash with the USA.
Australia take on Spain at 4.45am AEST.
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