The Australian Opals have bowed out of the FIBA Women’s World Cup in Germany after falling to Spain by 23 points, just hours after learning captain Ezi Magbegor had suffered an ACL injury.
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There was hope following Australia’s thrilling 82-80 win over Italy that Magbegor’s injury might not be as serious as first feared, with head coach Sandy Brondello pointing to some positive signs after the game.
“We don’t know, so we’ll see what the result is tomorrow. She’s walking, and that’s a good sign.” Brondello said in the post-match against Italy.
Unfortunately, the worst possible news was later confirmed by Magbegor’s WNBA team, the Seattle Storm, who revealed the star forward had torn her ACL.
It was another devastating blow for Magbegor, who was coming off a torn Achilles in March and had only returned to the court in July, making the latest setback an incredibly difficult pill to swallow.
“It makes me emotional when I see anyone go down,“ Opals coach Sandy Brondello said after the loss to Spain.
“But Ezi’s come back from an injury and it’s just another injury. [It’s] just really unfortunate. She’s a key part of what we want to do. It sucks, but that’s sport isn’t it?
“She’s got to have a great recovery and she’ll get back, I don’t have a doubt about that. Just disappointed for Ezi that she’s going through another rehabilitation.”
Magbegor joined fellow stars Alanna Smith (leg injury) and Jade Melbourne (illness) on the sidelines, while veteran Sami Whitcomb was ruled out before the tournament through injury and Cayla George did not play due to pregnancy.
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Smith suffered a lower-leg injury in the opening game of the tournament, while Melbourne played just three minutes against Italy due to illness and was unable to take the floor against Spain.
With Australia severely depleted, the Opals eventually fell 89-66 to Spain, bringing their World Cup campaign to an end.
Steph Talbot was one of Australia’s standouts throughout the tournament, averaging 13.8 points, 8.6 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game in Germany.
Despite the disappointing finish, the forward said she was proud of the way the group continued to fight until the end, while admitting it was a strange feeling looking around at just how many players were unavailable.
“It’s very weird. It was very quiet, very unusual. We were all looking around like, ‘Is this it?’” she said.
“But a job’s a job and we fought hard to the end. I’m really proud of the effort they put in. It’s definitely a different experience.”
The result marked the first time since 1990 that Australia has finished outside the top five at a FIBA Women’s World Cup, having claimed bronze medals in 2014 and 2022, along with silver in 2018 across the previous three tournaments.
Australia finished its campaign with a 3-2 record, but the final result only tells part of the story after a mountain of injuries left Brondello with an increasingly depleted roster as the tournament progressed.
Despite the difficult World Cup, Brondello believes the experience will prove valuable for a new generation of Opals, with seven players entering the tournament having never previously featured at a major international event.
With the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics now looming on the horizon, the focus will turn towards what comes next for an Opals group that was forced to deal with more adversity than it could have imagined in Germany.