The win moves Australia to a 2-1 win-loss record at the championship and third place in their pool.
The Australians overpowered Argentina with their size, led by centres Gretel Tippett with 21 points, eight rebounds, two steals and two assists, and Tayla Roberts with 20 points and six rebounds.
The Australians shook off their loss to China yesterday to open proceedings against Argentina with an 11-0 run, and finished the first quarter with an unassailable 17-point lead, 25-8.
The South Americans made some headway in the second term but a 23-12 third quarter to the Australians sealed their fate.
Australia’s strong defence and high shooting percentage (54% from the field, 84% at the line) denied Argentina any chance of a comeback.
Australian head coach Peter Lonergan said “We knew it would be hard. We watched the game between Argentina and Belgium yesterday. We focused on getting off to a good start to set the win. We established our presence in the paint. Tayla Roberts and Gretel Tippett helped us a lot to establish a platform.”
After a rest day today, the Australians will be aiming to notch up their third win at the tournament against Mali on Tuesday night; the West African nation remains winless. The teams take the court at 1.30am Wednesday July 21 AEST. Play-by-play will be available thanks to FIBA Live Stats for the group matches at france2010.fiba.com.
In other Pool B action overnight European Champions Spain suffered another one-point loss, this time at the hands of Belgium 55-54 and China crushed Mali 103-54. In Pool A games in Rodez the United States trounced Canada 114-57, France escaped Russia 56-53, and Japan routed Turkey 80-60.
Quarter by quarter:
1: AUS 25 ARG 8
H: AUS 41 ARG 27 (16-19)
3: AUS 64 ARG 39 (23-12)
F: AUS 77 ARG 57 (13-18)
AUSTRALIA 77 (G Tippett 21, T Roberts 20, L Nicholson 7) def
ARGENTINA 57 (J Vazquez 9, Rocio Diaz 8, Micaela Sancisi 7, Diana Cabrera 7) def
Australian U17 Women World Championship Schedule
Friday July 16: Australia 58 def Spain 57
Saturday July 17: China 92 def Australia 75
Sunday July 18: Australia 77 def Argentina 57
Tuesday July 20: Australia v Mali 17:30 (1:30am Wed 21 July AEST)
Wednesday July 21: Australia v Belgium 15:00 (11pm)
Friday July 23: Quarter Finals
Saturday July 24: Semi Finals
Sunday July 25: Finals
FIBAtv.com will be streaming every match live from the quarter-final onwards, from 23 July.
