A victory was critical for the Gems in terms of finals placing, but the energetic Brazilians were also determined to protect their unbeaten record.
Australia went into the contest focused on defending hard and stopping the penetration of the athletic Brazilian guards, and with tensions high early on, both teams were forced into uncustomary errors.
De Oliveira scored Brazil’s first seven points of the game, helping her side to an early lead, before back-to-back baskets from Carley Mijovic helped the Gems close the first term gap, despite still trailing 12-11 in what began a low-scoring encounter.
Brazil stretched their lead out to 16-11 early in the second term, before the Gems fought back to take the lead 17-16 midway through the quarter. From that point, the Gems connected on a barrage of long-range three-point baskets, with Casey Samuels knocking down three, and Carley Mijovic one, to help push the Gems advantage to 30-22 at halftime.
The Gems continually answered the challenges from Brazil throughout the third term, holding onto a double-digit lead for most of the quarter, with Casey Samuels and Stephanie Talbot leading the way offensively, opening up a 52-38 advantage heading into the fourth.
Despite Brazil fighting hard in an attempt to get the margin under double-figures, and build some momentum in the final term, six early points from Casey Samuels thwarted their come-back hopes, as the Gems ran away convincing 18-point winners.
Young Aussies Casey Samuels led all scorers in the contest with 21 points, hitting 64 per cent from the field, including 3 of 4 from long range.
Stephanie Talbot finished with 15 points and 5 assists for the Gems, while Carley Mijovic (14 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocks and 3 steals) and Alex Wilson (13 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists) provided terrific all-round contributions.
Maria Carolina De Oliveira led the Brazilian attack with a team-high in both points (16 points) and rebounds (6 rebounds), while Izabella Sangalli added 10 points in 19 minutes of action.
Australia face Serbia next, a team that boasts just one win for the tournament, in the last of their final-eight round match-ups.
The Australia V Serbia match tips off on Wednesday night at 10:45PM AEST. Follow the game and all the Aussie results at www.lithuania2013.fiba.com
Australian Gems 69 (Samuels 21, Talbot 15, Mijovic 14) defeated Brazil 51 (De Oliveira 16, Sangalli 10)
