BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Former University of Michigan standout Abby Andrews shot one-for-five from the field in 19 minutes of action as Australia claimed the Silver Medal with an 11-9 loss to Spain in the Gold Medal match of the 2024 Olympics at the Paris La Defense Arena.
Australia – which finished first in Group A title with a 4-0 mark following defeats of Hungary (15-14 W OT Shootout, August 4), Canada (10-7 W, August 2), the Netherlands (15-14 W OT Shootout, July 31) and the People’s Republic of China (7-5 W, July 27). – earned its way to the Gold Medal clash by overwhelming Greece (9-6, August 6) and surviving a penalty shootout versus the United States of America (14-13 W OT Shootout, August 8).
Andrews – who connected on one-of-man-up bids and zero-of-one action shots facing Spain – concludes the Olympics with 15 goals-on-39 shots (including penalty shots versus both Hungary and the United States) with eight steals, a pair of field blocks and three rebounds in seven games.
Australia gained the early lead in the game as Alice Williams opened the scoring by burying a penalty shot with 6:15 remaining in the first quarter. Spain, however, turned the tables on the Aussies as Paula Leiton Arrones (5:50, center shot) and Elena Ruiz Barril (4:39, penalty shot) pushed the Spaniards ahead 2-1 prior to Williams swishing a man-up chance with two seconds on the clock to square the squads at two-all after eight minutes of action.
Neither team scored again until Maica Garcia Goody lined in a man-up opportunity at the 1:38 mark of the second quarter to return Spain to the lead at 3-2 heading into halftime.
Bea Ortiz began putting the contest out of reach by hammering home action (7:32) and penalty shot (6:49) strikes to commence the third quarter. Andrews sliced Australia’s deficit back to a pair at 5-3 by putting away a man-up score with 6:30 left in the frame, but Ortiz struck again at 6:09 by arching in a six-meter direct shot in a free throw situation to double-up the Stingers by a 6-3 count.
Williams shaved her team’s deficit down to 6-4 with another extra-player score at 3:24 prior to Anni Espar Llaquet (1:06, penalty shot) and Danijela Jackovich (28 seconds, man-up) converting for Spain and Australia to set the scoreboard at 7-5 heading into the final eight minutes of women’s water polo competition at the 2024 Olympics.
Sienna Hearn trimmed Spain’s lead down to a single goal with 5:45 left in the fourth quarter by drilling in an action shot. However, Ortiz (5:09, man-up) and Garcia Goody (4:12, man-up) delivered for Spain to widen the gap to 9-6 with under five minutes left in the game.
Williams attempted to rally her team back by connecting for a man-up goal (3:35), but Espar Llaquet (2:55, man-up) and Garcia Goody (1:49, action shot) delivered down the stretch for the Spaniards prior to Hearn (54 seconds, action shot) and Williams (19 seconds, counter attack) answering for Australia to establish the 11-9 final score.
Ortiz led the way for Spain with four goals, while Garcia Goody (three), Espar Llaquet (two), Ruiz Barril (one) and Leiton Arrones (one) also scored in support of a 15 save effort by goalkeeper Martina Terre.
Complete results and links to statistics for each women’s water polo game are available by CLICKING HERE.
