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China defeat Australia again to win Asiad Women's basketball title
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Updated: 2001-05-27 11:42
China proved the better team as they defeated Australia in the final game of the women's basketball tournament 80-75 at the East Asian Games in Japan's Osaka on Saturday.
China had already secured the title after their semifinal victory over Japan on Friday because Australia competed in the Games as guests. Saturday's final was in fact a game of pride.
"It's a great contest and both teams should be proud of what they have achieved for their countries," Australia's coach Jan Stirling said.
Most players of the Australia's Olympic champions team at the Sydney Games are not in this national team for the East Asian Games, leaving Suzanne Batkovic the only player having Olympic spell.
Batkovic had a game-high 38 points, 25 of which in the first half, 12 rebounds and five blocks in her brilliant game. But that was not enough to beat the more determined Chinese.
Trailing by 47-36 in the first half, China held Australia to only a nine-point gain in the third quarter, before they used a 11-0 run into the decisive quarter to build up a 64-57 lead.
Australians closed up to 75-72 through three pointers with 1:58 left, but guard Miao Lijie's jumper and Pan Wei's layup extended the lead again.
Miao led China with 19 points while forward Sui Feifei and Hu Xiaotao added 15 and 14 respectively.
"We didn't play well in the first half, but the players woke up in the right time in the third quarter," Chinese coach Gong Luming said. "Winning the East Asian Games is just the start of our young team. Our focus is the Asian Championships half year later," he added.
Guard Lee Mi-sun hit two free throws with 3.1 seconds left to give South Korea a hard-fought 73-72 victory over Japan to win the silver medal.
The Japanese led all through the game from the start before Kim Yeong-ok drilled in a three-pointer and had one free throw down the stretch to put the score to 72-71 before Lee hit the winners.
Kahori Kawakami scored 19 points with Mutsuko Nagata contributing 18 points and eight rebounds for Japan, who had to be settled down with the bronze medals. South Korean center Jung Sun-min had 18 points.
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