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A GRITTY 70-54 opening FIBA Women's World Cup win by Australia over Puerto Rico has been overshadowed by fears over a leg injury to starting power forward/centre Alanna Smith in the first half of a game much tougher than the final scoreline in Berlin implies. It took some Steph Talbot-Alex Wilson magic to seal this one.

Teammates at Eastern Mavericks as under-16s and again in Adelaide Lightning's WNBL program, the "frenemies" were united in steering the Opals to safety after Smith's injury jolted the team.

The WNBA's 2025 Defensive Player of the Year was on fire from the get-go and already had 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting, eight rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block in 12:13 of first-half action.

But after retreating to defend a Puerto Rican fast break four minutes from halftime, she forced a tough shot, then grabbed the defensive board. Yet even as she threw her outlet pass, Smith was signalling to the bench she needed an immediate sub, limping up the floor.

She saw no further action and with newly-minted captain Ezi Magbegor battling to assert herself, Zitina Aokuso (six points, 9 rebounds) had no time for deer-in-the-headlights adjustments, needing to step up to the occasion.

The Opals started brilliantly, an aggressive Jade Melbourne drawing a foul and knocking down two free throws before Smith swished a 3-pointer.

A tough Isobel Borlase basket - the WNBL MVP is certainly not intimidated by the oocasion and always offensively aggressive - meant the Opals were 7-0 up and Puerto Rico calling time-out at 8:17.

Australia's Asia Cup MVP Alex Fowler had a forgettable first stint, several of her errors underpinning Puerto Rico's fightback which brought it to 11-19 at quartertime.

Smith bumped that out to 26-16 during the second period but a sequence of easily gettable buckets by Melbourne, Aokoso and Magbegor that instead were misses, meant Puerto Rico had the deficit back to 24-31 by halftime.

Australia coughed up the ball 11 times in the first half and started the third period with Talbot turning it over. 

Inside the paint, Puerto Rico's 201cm pivot Imani McGee-Stafford was creating issues, Trinity San Antonio also causing problems and when veteran Pamela Rosada scored off an Opals turnover, the margin was back to 36-37.

Wilson's triple restored calm at 40-36 and Chloe Bibby's three for a 43-38 lead ignited a 11-0 run which swept Australia 51-38 clear.

Talbot had the ball rolling with an offensive rebound basket, Wilson fed Aokuso, then Talbot on consecutive Opals attacks before a Talbot jumper concluded the run.

Sticking back-to-back threes in the fourth quarter, Talbot (19 points at 78 per cent, 4-of-6 threes, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals) looked every bit the small forward selected in the 2022 World Cup All Star Five.

Steph Reid's brief second quarter run saw her steal the ball in her first few seconds on court, Melbourne was solid and Borlase, while going 2-of-11, always makes something happen offensively.

Coach Sandy Brondello reminding her team not to play scared and 22 turnovers were the only on-court concerns, Smith's injury the other.

"I don’t have a status report on Alanna," Brondello said immediately post-game. "Obviously we’re praying that she’ll be okay. She’s such a big part of what we do, and she had played great in the 12 minutes that she did play."

Basketball Australia later said Smith's absence through the second half was "precautionary due to lower leg tightness". Australia next suits up against Turkey on Sunday when we will see the validity of that reassuring statement.

FIBA Women's World Cup - Day 1

GROUP C: Australia Opals 70 (Talbot 19, Magbegor 11, Smith, Melbourne 10; Aokuso, Magbegor 9 rebs; Wilson 4 assts) d Puerto Rico 54 (Guirantes 14, San Antonio, McGee-Stafford 11; McGee-Stafford 12 rebs; San Antonio 2 assts) at Max-Schmeling-Halle, Berlin.

GROUP A: Japan 102, Mali 97;  

GROUP B: Korea 99, Nigeria 81;

GROUP D: USA 94, China 61;