Adnkronos (Adnkronos) –
Italy's women's basketball campaign at the World Cup comes to a halt in the playoffs. In Berlin, coach Capobianco's Azzurre, who finished third in the group stage, beating the Czech Republic and losing to the USA and China, were defeated 82-80 by Australia, who will face Spain in the quarterfinals tomorrow.
But Italy came close to pulling off the feat, coming back from a 26-point deficit (64-36) at the end of the third quarter. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough.
The top scorer for the Azzurri was Costanza Verona with 23 points, a career high for her with the national team after the 16 she scored against Slovakia in Naples on November 27, 2022. Vittoria Blasigh also scored double figures with 13 points.
Cecilia Zandalasini's 32th match for Italy. Tomorrow morning the national team returns to Italy, having won one match against the Czech Republic and lost three, although these losses came against three teams in the top four of the World Rankings: the United States (1), China (4) and Australia (3). Thirty-two years after their last appearance in the World Cup, Italy has returned to the top 12 teams in the world.
The Azzurre's next match is on November 11 at the Pala Terni against Slovenia, the first match of the Women's EuroBasket 2027 qualifiers.
“First of all, I want to thank all the girls who accompanied us on this journey and who, for physical or conditioning reasons, were unable to come to Berlin: I'm referring to Ilaria Panzera, Laura Spreafico, and Martina Kacerik. Regarding the game, I'd say that when we let technique drive talent, we're not incisive, we don't run the court, and we suffer terribly, like in the first half,” said coach Capobianco. “When we manage to switch and our spirit drives our talent, we become the team that comes back from 26 points against one of the strongest national teams in the world. In just over a year, we've faced Belgium, the United States, and Australia, losing by a combined 7 points. This means we need to work on the details if we want to compete at the highest level of world basketball. But dreaming of fighting for the top isn't impossible,” concluded the Italian coach.
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