Spain women saw off Japan 79-59 in their World Championship match on Sunday. The visitors led from the opening tip and never really looked back, cruising to a comfortable twenty-point victory. And here's the thing — it was exactly what the form suggested would happen.
Spain shot 41.9 per cent from the field compared with Japan's 34.7, and their eight three-pointers made the difference in a game where the visitors refused to go away. The assists tell the story too: eighteen for Spain against nine for the hosts, which is a fairly stark divide in ball movement. Japan managed only one block all game, while Spain recorded three.
The visitors had more than half the rebounds — 32 to 27 — and their thirteen steals to Japan's six showed how sharply they pressed. To be fair, Japan turned the ball over eighteen times, which is a lot when you're facing a team that takes its chances. Spain converted thirteen of twenty-one free throws, which kept them ahead when Japan tried to claw back in the third quarter.
Japan's recent results didn't suggest this would be easy. They had beaten Mali 102-97 just three days ago, but lost to Germany 74-58 on Saturday. By then it was clear they were struggling to find consistency at this level, and the defensive breakdowns showed through against Spain's sharper passing.
Spain's form has been mixed — they lost to Mali 82-73 on Friday but had beaten Germany 83-53 the day before. They made the difference here with their ability to switch between sets and punish Japan's transitions. The visitors now sit in a stronger position in the group, having shown they can control games when they want to.