Good Luck tourney day 2: China stuns Oz

Posted April 21, 2008 at 12:32 AM by Os Davis

Section: Beijing 2008, Events, Basketball, Featured Writers, Os Davis

Now things are really getting muddled; that, or we’re seeing an unprecedented shift of power in women’s basketball to Asia.

Talking Good Luck Beijing 2008 tournament here, and the news of day two has got to be the homers: Team China followed up their easy handling of South Korea on day one with a solid 67-64 tip-to-buzzer defeat of Australia.

The day after handily beating Team USA, the Opals simply could not buy a three-pointer, going a sad 2-for-17 from beyond the arc. Additionally particularly unfortunate was that the ladies of Oz destroyed China on the boards, 48 to 24; the Chinese threat was essentially “reduced” to Nan Chen (Beijing/WCBA All-Stars), who started at center and grabbed 13 rebounds while playing 33 minutes.

Sloppy play early killed Australia, and evidence of the workout given the Opals by Team USA was obvious. At guard, Lijie Miao (WCBA All-Stars) went for 11 of her 15 points in the first quarter while China got out to a 21-16 lead and never looked back. Young forward Lan Bian (WCBA All-Stars) – she’s just 21 – added 12 for Team China.

A positive for Australia: Prospective Olympic team addition (and looking a certainty right about now) Rohanee Cox (Townsville Fire) again looked great, putting in 12 points including five in the fourth when Oz outscored China 26-18 playing quick for the comeback. Suzy “Bat Girl” Batkovic (Seattle Storm) led Australia with 13 points, Emma Randall (Sydney Flames) contributed 12 on 5-for-7 shooting, and Hollie Grima (Italmoka Pozzuoli) was good for 10.

With Teams USA and South Korea easily getting past Cuba and New Zealand on Sunday, Team China sits atop the table at 2-0, riding home-court advantage over the (heretofore) undisputed world Nos. 1 and 2, plus relatively untested South Korea. The suddenly big three should remain that way after today’s matches of USA-South Korea, Australia-Cuba, China-New Zealand, but another upset somewhere is certain to create interesting scenarios.

And China is feeling very good about their ladies today…

Good tournament.