The Chinese National Women’s Team got off to a hot shooting start to take an early lead and coasted to a 99-74 victory over the NetScouts Basketball USA All-Stars in Jinzhong City Monday night before a crowd of 3,022.
It was the first game of a three-game series called the 2012 Longrich Cup Sino-American Women’s Basketball Pre-Olympic Challenge.
Team China pulled away early connecting on 13-of-16 shots in the first quarter finding open spots in the USA defense and using their height to score in close. China has six players on their roster 6’6” or taller. 6’7” lefty Chen Nan showed a nice mid-range touch and shot 9-of-11 to score 18 points. Team China led 30-16 after the first quarter.
The USA All-Stars made a nice comeback in the second quarter cutting the deficit to nine points on several occasions helped by aggressive play by Dawn Evans and the inside scoring of 6’5” Becca Tobin. Team China led 53-40 at halftime.
Team China continued their excellent shooting in the third quarter pulling out to a 20-point lead and led the rest of the way between 15 and 25 points. 6’ Ma Zengyu led Team China with 26 points on 9-for-13 shooting while Miao Lijie contributed 11 points and nine assists. Team China shot 60% from the field for the game. The USA was led by Tobin’s 12 points while Evans and Becky Burke added 11.
The series continues tonight at 7:30 pm local time in another nationally televised contest. You can access the coverage from this link from the Sohu Sports website. The time is 15 hours ahead of the USA West Coast and 12 hours ahead of the USA East Coast.
Stats
Katie Bussey (Montana State): 0 points, 0 rebounds, 1 assist
Ashley Corral (USC): 7 points, 1 rebound, 4 assists, 2 steals
Dawn Evans (James Madison): 11 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals
Jence Rhoads (Vanderbilt): 6 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 1 steal
Briana Gilbreath (USC): 8 points, 0 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block
Brittany Carter (Memphis): 4 points, 2 rebounds, 2 blocks
Becky Burke (Louisville): 11 points, 3-for-4 three-pointers
Kristina Santiago (Cal Poly): 7 points, 2 rebounds, 1 block
Amanda Johnson (Oregon): 4 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal
Kali Bennett (Arizona State): 0 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal
Becca Tobin (Arizona State): 12 points (6-for-7 FG), 3 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal
Cierra Brevard (Florida State): 4 points, 4 rebounds
Good luck Chris!
Michelle
Michelle Grooms