Lebanon has remained among the elite nations in the Asian-Oceanian category in women's basketball after defeating the Chinese Taipei team (75-73) in a crucial match to maintain its position in the first level, held this Friday morning in Beirut time as part of the Women's Asia Cup hosted by Australia, concluding on Sunday.
Both teams played a "do or die" match, as the winner would secure its place among the elite, while the loser would drop to level "B". The encounter was thrilling and intense, with the Lebanese women showing remarkable spirit, overcoming a first-quarter deficit (21-27) to tie the game (48-48) by the end of the second quarter, and taking the lead (68-61) by the end of the third quarter.
The result was only determined in the final moments of the match when Lebanese captain Rebekah Akal scored a historic basket after the score was tied at (73-73), concluding the game with a victory for Lebanon (75-73) and ensuring its place in the first-tier nations, a status they have recently regained after a 12-year absence.
Lebanese captain Rebekah Akal was undoubtedly the star of the match, being the top scorer with 27 points, followed by her teammates Trinity Baptiste (16 points) and Aida Bakhous (12 points), while Daniella Fayyad and Rana Al-Husseini scored 6 points each, and Natalie Seifajian scored 4 points, with Layla Faris and Zina Elias contributing 2 points each.
