DANDONG, China, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- Sichuan remain the only unbeaten side in Group A with a 99-77 victory over Shanghai in China's 15th National Games women's basketball qualifiers here on Thursday.
In a clash of teams with three straight wins, Sichuan set up an 11-point cushion at the end of the first quarter, while Shanghai relied on outside shooting to pull within 45-50 at the break.
Sichuan carried a six-point advantage going into the final quarter, where it outscored Shanghai 28-12, fueled by substitute center Liu Yutong's 13 points down the stretch.
Han Xu led Sichuan with 24 points, and Gao Song and Liu had 19 and 17 points, respectively.
Six Shanghai players scored in double figures, led by Ding Kangchen's 15.
"They have four national team players, we have none, so I told my players to take this game as a high-quality drill. We focused on defense and transition, and our players executed them well," Shanghai coach Zhan Shuping told Xinhua.
"But we still came up short on some details, which was partly due to the lack of experience, and we also missed some easy baskets," she added.
With starting center Gao Jianjun troubled by four personal fouls in the first quarter, Hubei could not constrain Xu Chenyan, who shone both in the paint and from beyond the arc, scoring 18 points in the first half as Jiangsu went ahead 53-42.
Jiangsu began to break the game open back from the locker room for a 22-point lead after three quarters, before securing an 89-66 win.
Xu shot eight of nine for a game-high 24 points. Luo Xinyu and Ma Wen added 15 and 13 points, respectively.
"Hubei has shown strong resilience and fighting spirit over the past four matches. We made full preparations for defending their fast breaks and three-pointers. We had some problems in our defense in the first half, but through concerted efforts in the second half, we managed to win," Xu said.
Also on Thursday, Xinjiang handed Shanxi its fifth straight defeat, emerging victorious 85-71.
In Group B, Shandong humbled Hebei 85-42, Beijing crushed Henan 83-52, and Liaoning squeezed past Zhejiang 78-75. ■
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