Women’s basketball Woori Bank-KB wins the Park Shinjah Cup for the third time in a row, qualifying for the quarterfinals
Women’s professional basketball’s Asan Woori Bank and Cheongju KB have booked their place in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Park Shinjoo Cup with three straight wins.
Woori Bank, the defending Korean Women’s Professional Basketball League champion, defeated Incheon Shinhan Bank 85-57 in the third game of Group A at Cheongju Gymnasium in North Chungcheong Province on Monday.
Woori Bank, which defeated Japan’s Toyota Antelopes on the 26th and Yongin’s Samsung Life on the 27th, won its third straight game to lead Group A and secure at least a second-place finish and a spot in the quarterfinals.
Ten teams from four countries, including Japan, Australia, and the Philippines, participated in the tournament, which raised the prize money from 10 million won to 30 million won, along with six WKBL clubs.
The teams were divided into two groups and played a group stage, with the top two teams advancing to the best-of-four tournament to determine the winner.
Shinhan Bank went 1-2 after defeating the Bendigo Spirit, who represented Australia, two days earlier, before losing back-to-back games to Toyota and Woori Bank.
Woori Bank’s Park Ji-hyun exploded for 30 points and nine rebounds, while Kim Dan-bi added 18 points, nine rebounds and six assists and Na Yoon-jeong had 18 points and five rebounds. Transfer student Yoo Seung-hee had nine points and 16 rebounds for Chinjung.
For Shinhan Bank, only Kim Sonia (20 points, 7 rebounds) and Kim Ji-young (14 points) were left in double figures.
Led by Park Ji-hyun, who was all over the court and responsible for 12 points, Woori Bank jumped out to a 26-17 lead in the first quarter and led 40-30 at halftime.
In the middle of the third quarter, Shinhan Bank pulled to within 43-49 thanks to Goo Seul and Kim Sonia’s outside shooting, but lost momentum as they were unable to stop Park Ji-hyun at every turn.
After back-to-back three-pointers by Na Yoon-jung and Yoo Seung-hee made it 68-52 with six minutes left in the fourth quarter, Woori Bank scored five straight points with a three-pointer and a floater by Park Ji-hyun at 70-55 to push the lead to 20 points with 3:07 left in the game.
In Group A, Samsung Life fell to Bendigo, 62-83, and suffered its second straight defeat following the first game against Woori Bank.
Bendigo, which was swept by Shinhan Bank in its first game, improved to 1-1.
Samsung Life was heavily outrebounded, 25-49, with only Bendigo’s Alicia Froehling (22 points) pulling down 22 rebounds.
They took 40 three-point shots, but only nine went in.
Kang Yoo-rim led the way with 21 points and Lee Hae-ran had 13.
In Group B, KB defeated Busan BNK 84-64 to clinch a spot in the top four with their third straight win.
KB has been on a roll in this group, defeating Bucheon Hana OneQ, Japan’s Aeneos Sunflowers, and BNK in order.
On the day, the team had an evenly matched performance, with Kang Isul finishing with 16 points and seven rebounds, including four three-pointers, Lee Chae-eun with 11 points, and Park Ji-soo with 10 points.
Despite Jin-an’s 23 points and seven rebounds, BNK was unable to capitalize on the victory, leaving them with a 1-2 record and a spot in the quarterfinals in doubt.
In Group B, Hana OneQ recorded its first win of the tournament with an 80-63 victory over the Philippine National Team to improve to 1-1.
‘Ace’ Shin Ji-hyun led the way with 22 points, eight assists, and five steals, while Yang In-young added 19 points and five rebounds.
It was the second straight loss for the Philippines against a Korean pro team, 카지노사이트킴 following a loss to BNK on Nov. 26.