Following the early exit from the Rio Olympics, Brendan Joyce was replaced in April 2017 by former Opals player and Phoenix Mercury head coach, Sandy Brondello. Unlike previous years, the Opals qualified for the 2018 World Cup through the FIBA Women's Asia Cup held in India where they won a silver medal. Kelsey Griffin was named tournament most valuable player. With basketball returning to the Commonwealth Games for the first time since 2006, the Opals easily accounted for England in the final winning the gold-medal game 99–55. At the 2018 World Cup held in Spain, the Opals led their group with a 3–0 record. They then defeated China 83–42 in the quarter-final and Spain 72–66 in the semi-final to set up a gold-medal final with their long-time rivals USA. The Opals lost the game 73–56 with head coach Sandy Brondello stating a lack of offence proved their downfall. Liz Cambage led the tournament scoring with an average of 23.8 points per game and was named to the All-Star Five.