FIBA Women’s Asia Cup Div. B qualifiers:
Iran beats Jordan to progress
Iranian women’s basketball team defeated Jordan 88-70 to make a clean sweep of double victories in Group A of the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup Div. B – WABA Qualification Tournament in Amman and progress to the second tier of the competition.
Four Iranian girls finished in double figures on Thursday, with 20-year-old center Mahla Abedi registering a double-double for Greek coach Eleni Kapogianni’s side with 20 points and 15 rebounds.
Negin Rasoulipour and Roxy Barahman chipped in 19 points apiece – including four 3-pointers between them – while Farnaz Khodamoradi dropped 16 points in 31 minutes on the court.
Jordanian guard Aisha Sheppard scored a game-high 24 points, with Janset Yaltchen adding 13 for the host, which had beaten Syria 86-75 on the preceding night.
Iran dominated the first quarter for a 10-point lead (23-13) and went on to establish a 43-32 advantage at halftime.
Kapogianni’s girls had opened their campaign with 65-55 win against Syria on Tuesday.
Barahman, who plays for French club Tarbes Gespe Bigorre, was the star of the show for Iran in the first-day victory, chipping in a game-high 25 points – including five 3-pointers – and seven rebounds, with Delaram Vakili dropping 14 points, 12 of which came from behind the arc.