China beat Australia 69-64 in women's basketball friendly

CHANGZHI, Shanxi province - Chinese women's basketball team resisted the challenge from their Australian counterpart to hold off the latter 69-64 in Game 1 of Sino- Australian Women's International Basketball Challenge here on Wednesday.

About 2,000 fans crowded into Wuyang Coal Mine Sports Center to support Chinese girls. After almost-one-month training in Europe, Chinese team coach Tom Maher called 29-year-old Song Xiaoyun, who played for China at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, and put her into the starting lineup in this game. Song had three points and seven assists tonight.

"She impacts us young players a lot and guides us to a better performance," Zhao Shuang, who had team-high 17 points, talked of Song's play.

Obviously the Chinese team had the better of the game at the beginning as Zhao Shuang' three-point play helped the host team for a 7-0 run.

After a 16-12 lead into the second quarter, the Chinese girls dominated the game, especially in the third period, when they sent brilliant performance on both sides of the court. Ji Yanyan, who contributed 12 points tonight, made a lay-up, while center Chen Nan forced the opponents into a 24-second violation with two consecutive blocks.

Though the Australian side caught up little by little after the final 12 minutes began, they suffered several turnovers at the crucial moment. Ji's two free-throws secured the victory for the host.

Australia's Belinda Snell finished with game-high 24 points. Natalie Hurst and Jennifer Screen added 10 points apiece.

The second game of this series will be held in Shanxi's Xiyang on Friday.