Opals far too good in blowout

AUSTRALIA rolled into the medal round of the women’s basketball with star centre Liz Cambage at the wheel of the runaway green-and-gold train in their 118-55 win over England in Townsville last night.

The Opals decimated Mozambique, Canada and the old enemy in their pool games and are the hottest of red-hot favourites to win gold this Saturday night.

The central towering figure in their Commonwealth Games romp has been Cambage who was too big and too strong for the hapless Poms, finishing with 30 points.

But England are not alone. There is nobody in this tournament who can counter Cambage’s deadly combination of skill, athleticism and sheer size.

Helping Cambage is the clever passing of fellow 2012 Olympian and Melbourne Boomers WNBL teammate Jenna O’Hea who continues to get the ball to Cambage in the right places, at the right time.

O’Hea had nine points and six assists before an early mark to rest a troublesome back while Kelsey Griffin (14 points, eight rebounds and five assists), Ezi Magbegor (14 points and four rebounds) and Cayla George (11 points and 10 rebounds) also provided valuable supporting roles.

Australia led 31-15 at quarter-time and 58-24 at halftime when England had just two more points than Cambage. The procession continued in the second half with the Opals up 94-42 at the last break.