China's Li Meng goes on the attack as Kahleah Copper of the US defends during their Women's Basketball World Cup Group A game in Sydney on Saturday. AFP
A gutsy Team China performance forced the United States to dig deep for victory in a highly entertaining FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup game in Sydney on Saturday.
Roared on by a big pro-Chinese crowd of roughly 9,400 fans, the world's best team found it difficult to shake off a tenacious Team China who battled bravely until the final buzzer.
The relatively young Chinese squad, with an average age of 25.5 years old, tied the game at 13-13 before finishing the first quarter trailing 18-13. The US surged to a 44-25 halftime lead but China reduced the gap to 56-47 by the end of the third before eventually losing 77-63.
Li Meng, who scored a game-high 21 points including three 3-pointers, had every right to be proud of the Chinese team's effort.
"We enjoyed the whole process and cherished this opportunity to play head-to-head with the United States, which allowed us to learn a lot from the world's best team," said Li.
Her performance earned praise from US captain Breanna Stewart. "She's tough and she just never stopped flying," said Stewart, who had a game-high nine rebounds.
The high-octane action was complemented by the high-volume Chinese fans, which included NBA Hall of Famer Yao Ming, who is chairman of the Chinese Basketball Association.
"The China fan base, whether it was the local fan base here or they came from abroad, was just tremendous," US coach Cheryl Reeve said. "Their support made a fun environment. I heard some USA people. This is what you want."
US player Kelsey Plum also relished the heated atmosphere inside the stadium. She was booed by fans when she went to the foul line in the second half.
"I heard the noise. I don't think I've been booed in a long time," Plum said, laughing. "I don't think Connecticut (fans) even booed me."
China had cruised to wins in its first two games, routing both South Korea and Bosnia and Herzegovina by an average of 55 points. However, facing a tougher US defense, the Chinese team could not quite replicate the same scoring proficiency it produced in the opening games.
China head coach Zheng Wei rued some brief lapses by her team but was still buoyed by the overall performance.
"We didn't play too well in the opening minutes and the last three minutes of the second quarter, but they did really well for the rest of the match and I'm very proud of them," said Zheng.
The US needed WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson to come up clutch in the fourth quarter. Fresh off a WNBA championship with the Las Vegas Aces, Wilson finished with 20 points to help the US seal a quarterfinal spot.
"I am exhausted, I'm not going to lie about it. At this point I don't even think about it. I'm surrounded by greatness. I really lean on them. I don't even know which way is up. I see it's daylight and feel I need to go to sleep," Wilson said after only arriving in Australia 24 hours before the game.
The US has now won 25 consecutive World Cup games since losing in the 2006 semifinals to Russia. The Americans are one win away from matching their record 26-game run from 1998-2006.
The teams came into the game unbeaten in the tournament. The US (3-0) led 25-20 with 6:23 left in the first half before out-scoring China 19-5 the rest of the second quarter, including the final 13 points. Alyssa Thomas and Stewart combined for seven of the 13 points during the game-changing burst.
Wilson closed the half with a put-back that made it 44-25. She and Las Vegas teammates Chelsea Gray and Plum were playing in their first game in Australia. The trio were in Las Vegas celebrating the Aces' WNBA Finals win before arriving in Sydney.
The US led 56-40 with 2:18 left in the third before China scored the final seven points of the period to get within nine. The Aces trio scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter to make it a 16-point game again.
However, China refused to throw in the towel. Trailing 67-51, Li scored four points in a 9-0 burst to get her team to 69-60 with 2 minutes left. Wilson ended the drought with two free throws and a reverse layup to seal the win.
China next faces Puerto Rico on Monday, with the US facing South Korea on the same day.
