Bendigo – Reigning World Champions, Australia held their ground and continued their dominance over the SPAR Proteas with a 64 – 53 win over South Africa in Bendigo, Australia on Saturday.
The South Africans came into this match with at least 10 Test matches under their belt for 2025, while the Australian Diamonds were playing their first international of the year.
The two rivals have met 46 times, and Australia is yet to taste defeat.
The SPAR Proteas took to court Saturday knowing that they needed to put their best foot forward and do what they had never done before, which is to beat the current world champions.
Head Coach Jenny van Dyk has, over time, maintained that to be the best, you will need to play against the best – and this is what South Africa was aiming for today.
While the Aussie Diamonds were the ones to get on the scoring board first, going three points clear in the opening few minutes of the opening quarter, the SPAR Proteas were very patient in executing their game plan.
It was not long before they levelled up.
The SPAR Proteas showed real character and showed up for every pass – they displayed grit and resilience; they kept giving as much as they got.
At the end of the first quarter, the two were locked at 14 points each.
With both teams’ level at the start of the second quarter, the Aussie Diamonds ramped out their attack and made sure to pull away from the SPAR Proteas while restricting them from scoring as many goals.
A quick four goals at the start of the quarter within three minutes shook the South African’s and that surge by Australia gave their home team the advantage throughout the rest of the match.
As both teams went to halftime, it was Australia that was leading 34 -26.
Van Dyk made a few changes going into the third quarter with the introduction of Owethu Ngubane and Sanmarie Visser in place of Khanyisa Chawane and Shadine van der Merwe.
South Africa seemed to have been more determined to play catch-up – Van der Merwe was brought back into the match halfway through the quarter.
At the end of the quarter, SPAR Proteas had scored 15 goals in response to Diamonds’ 16.
The overall score after 45 minutes was 50 – 41 to Australia.
With Tarle Mathe’s legs growing tired, Coach van Dyk brought in Refiloe Nketsa in the centre to strengthen the midcourt.
Australia kept applying pressure on the SPAR Proteas; they made sure to keep peeling away from South Africa and eventually won the opening match 64 – 53.
Reflecting on the game, SPAR Proteas Head Coach Jenny van Wyk said, “To be honest, it wasn’t a bad game for us as South Africa, taking on the best in the world is never an easy task, but we did it.
“Our first quarter was good, and everything that went wrong for us was in the second quarter.
“We lost the third quarter by a single point, which demonstrated good game performance from our end.
“We know that we can be competitive as a team; there is a lot of improvement from our end. Our aim with the next match is to win; we do not just compete.”
Quarter Score Breakdown
- Q1: SPAR Proteas 14 – 14 Aussie Diamonds
- Q2: SPAR Proteas 26 – 34 Aussie Diamonds
- Q3: SPAR Proteas 41 – 50 Aussie Diamonds
- Q4: SPAR Proteas 53 – 64 Aussie Diamonds
SPAR Proteas Starting XII
GS – Elmere van der Berg; GA – Kamogelo Maseko; WA – Khanyisa Chawane ( C ); C- Tarle Mathe; WD – Shadine van der Merwe; GD – Jamie van Wyk; GK Nicola Smith
Shooting Stats:
Elmere van der Berg 37/42 (88%)
Kamogelo Maseko 11/59 (73%)
Owethu Nguabane 5/7(71.4%)
