China records 60-point win over New Zealand in women's basketball

Fueled by a dominant first quarter, the Chinese women's basketball team gained much confidence in their preparation for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) with a 84-24 crush over New Zealand in 2016 Four-Nation Basketball Tournament here on Saturday.

"We want to play like a team. We want to be persistent and focused in our mind. I think we did that, and our defense was wonderful," said China's head coach Thomas Maher.

Led by Wu Di's game-high 12, 11 players had points for China. Sun Mengxin and Shao Ting had 11 apiece.

Compared with three warmup matches against Venezuela in April, China's roster was cut to 14 players. Their opponents New Zealand will also be on the stage of OQT in June.

Captain Lu Wen opened the score for the hosts with a shot beyond the arc. After Shao Ting made one of two free throws midway through the first quarter, China showed high quality defense to force New Zealand into several turnovers. The hosts took on a 16-0 run to set the score at 23-7 as the first quarter expired, capped by Sun Mengxin's magical buzzer beater near the half court line.

China continued to extend the margin in the second period, and led by 20 points on Shao Ting's layup with five minutes remaining. The visitors only had 13 points on 6 of 29 shooting attempts in the first half, earning China a 28-point advantage into the locker room.

China still kept the flow and rhythm in the second half, and sealed a 60-point win at the final buzzer, their largest margin throughout the match.

"We showed improvements in our team play. New Zealand caused much trouble for us despite the loss, and we still learned something from the match," commented Shao Ting.

None of New Zealand players had double-digit points. Antonia Edmondson finished with a team-high seven points.

China will face the Czech Republic on Sunday. Endit