China resist Venezuela's comeback to win again in basketball warmup

Chinese women's basketball team recorded a second staright win over their Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) rival Venezuela at 73-58 during a three-game warmup series here on Friday.

Venezuela once shortened the gap to three points after the final 12 minutes began, their smallest deficit in the second half, while China got the game back with solid performance on free-throw and three-pointer shooting line.

Sun Mengxin and Gao Song shared a team-high 13 points. Wu Di added 11.

"Venezuela played very well, so credit to them," said China's head coach Thomas Maher, "We made some mistakes that should not be made at this level."

Maher made one change in the starting line-up as Zhao Zhifang was introduced as a starter. Zhao, the hosts' "new blood" in a list released late in January, showed her confidence in offensive end. She had five points in a row early in the first quarter, including a three-point play. The Chinese team built a double-digit lead on Wu Di's jumper, forcing the Venezuelan team into a timeout. China led by 23-12 as the opening period expired.

Sun Mengxin's second-chance shot at the buzzer gave China a 37-24 lead into the locker room. They outrebounded at 24-14, and forced the opponents into 12 turnovers in the first half.

Venezuela cut the deficit to eight points midway through the third quarter, before being responded by China with a 6-0 run, capped by captain Lu Wen's layup. After the timeout, the visitors took on a fresh look in offense on Waleska Perez's jumper and Yvaney Marquez's layup, while the advantage is still in China's hand after Gao Song finished a three-point play.

The visitors made a strong comeback and set the score at 55-52 with an 8-0 spurt in a three-minute span, including Marquez's four-point play. China did better in attacking the paint, when Chen Nan and Lu Wen converted all four free throws into points. Sun Mengxin's two 3-pointers gave the hosts a huge boost in offense, and China sealed the win with a 13-point advantage in hand in the last minute.

Roselis Silva finished with a game-high 19 points, four assists and four steals. Perez helped with 18 points.

"We showed a good defense today. What we have learned from last game helped us a lot in our defense. Chinese players are very tall, which poses much threat to us, but our players played very hard," commented Oscar Silva, Venezuela's head coach.

The third game of the series will be held on Sunday.