The Iranian women's national basketball team secured the runner-up position at the FIBA Women's Asia Cup Division B 2023 in Thailand.
On Saturday, the Iranian outfit, which beat Jordan 72-54 the previous day to move an inch closer to the FIBA Women's Asia Cup Division A debut, narrowly lost to Indonesia 54-55 in the spirited and intense final match of the tournament at the Nimibutr Stadium in the Thai capital city of Bangkok.
Iranian sportswomen started the game as they meant to go on, and kept pressure up throughout the opening quarter. They claimed the quarter by 16 points to 12.
The Indonesians came from behind in the second quarter to steal the show. They took a 12-9 lead at the end.
The Indonesian basketball team maintained the lead in the third period, and finished it 19-14.
Even though Iranians excelled on defense and pulled out a 15-12 win in the final quarter, it was Indonesia which crowned the tournament and got promoted to FIBA Women's Asia Cup Division A for the first time since 1994 when the two-division format was adopted.
Indonesia’s Nathania Claresta Orville scored 16 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists.
Negin Rasoulipour Khameneh and Faezeh Shahriari scored 14 points each for Iran.
The FIBA Women's Asia Cup Division B 2023 started in Thailand on August 13, and concluded on August 19.