China stuns Australia at Asia Cup
WANG Siyu had a decisive steal as China shocked third-ranked Australia 70-69 at the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup in Bangalore, India, yesterday to sit atop Group B with three straight victories.
Captain Shao Ting converted a turnaround layup with 5.9 seconds left. At the other end of the court, Wang, registering a game-high 18 points, maneuvered for a steal to seal the deal.
Li Yueru contributed 14 points and 9 rebounds for China while Han Xu, Wu Tongtong and Gao Song added 7 points apiece.
Following Chen Mingling’s layup into the tipoff, China went scoreless as the Australians went on a 10-0 run in just over three minutes, forcing head coach Xu Limin to call a time-out.
The break helped as the Chinese players made some adjustments. Wang attacked the basket on consecutive occasions to score 9 points as the first quarter expired with Australia leading by just one point at 20-19.
Yang Liwei hit a 3-pointer to start the second quarter, followed by Wu’s layup. China gradually paced the rhythm midway en route to a 44-35 advantage back to the locker room through Han’s 3-point play.
China still had an upper hand after the restart, leading by five points heading into the final 10 minutes.
But Australia staged a strong rally, leveling the score at 65-all following Darcee Garbin’s layup. Li converted three of the next four free throws, but Leilani Mitchell’s driving layup 10.6 seconds from time put Australia 69-68 ahead. However, Shao and Wang then combined to help China seal the victory.
China lost to Australia 42-83 at last year’s FIBA Women’s World Cup. But without star center Liz Cambage, Australia has been finding the going tough.
Katie Ebzery led the Australians with 13 points. Mitchell and Garbin each had 9 points.
China finished the group phase with three wins in as many matches, earning direct entry into the semifinals.
Australia, ranked second at 2-1, has to fight for a semifinal berth against the third-ranked team in Group A.
New Zealand sits third in Group B after overcoming the Philippines 75-57 yesterday, and is destined to play a qualification game for a semifinal spot against the second-placed team from Group A.
(Xinhua)