BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Rising sophomore Mollie Williams (Sutherland Shire, Australia/Meriden) of Indiana University shot two-for-four and netted two steals in 24:52 of action as Australia fell to France, 8-6, at the Taipei Songshan Sports Center in Taipei City, Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) in the Aussies’ fourth game of the 29th Summer Universiade/University Games.
The pairs of goals and steals raise her tournament totals to six goals, an assist, four steals and a field block as Williams previously tallied a steal in 20:10 of action during a 17-3 loss to the United States on Tuesday, August 22, after registering four goals, an assist, a steal and a field block in a 10-3 defeat of Greece on Saturday, August 19, in Australia’s opening game of the tournament. In addition, she appeared in 7:59 of the game against Italy in an 8-6 loss on Sunday, August 20, prior to departing with three fouls.
Australia jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the opening minutes of the game as Pascalle Casey and Williams scored at 7:34 and dished out a feed to Williams for a marker at 2:38. France shaved its deficit down to a goal prior to the conclusion of the first quarter and turned the tides in the second quarter with a 2-0 run to carry a 3-2 lead into halftime.
Williams evened the damage with 7:16 remaining in the third quarter by finishing a pass from Daisy Carter to balance the scoreboard at three-all. The teams traded goals with France acquiring a 4-3 lead prior to Australia notching the equalizer. France pulled away, however, in the final 3:51 of the frame with back-to-back-to-back strikes at 3:51, 2:59 and 1:26 to put the Aussies in a 7-4 hole entering the fourth quarter.
The deficit proved too much for Australia to overcome down the stretch although the Aussies outscored the French 2-1 in the final minutes to fall by an 8-6 count.
Australia, which is competing in Group B at the tournament against Greece, the United States, France, Italy and Argentina will close out group play against versus Argentina (Friday, August 25) prior to the Quarterfinal (Saturday, August 26), Semifinal (Sunday, August 27) and Championship (Tuesday, August 29) rounds.
A 2017 Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) All-America Honorable Mention and Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) All-Conference Second Team selection, Williams joined the Hoosiers at the semester break and led a potent freshman class with 42 goals and six hat tricks, adding 27 assists and 46 steals to the season effort. She led Indiana with 26 drawn exclusions and notched eight field blocks.
