Chinese women's basketball team met more resistence in their second matchup against New Zealand, while managing to thrash the latter 90-52 in 2016 Four-Nation Women's Basketball Tournament on Thursday.
Five Chinese players had double-digit points, led by Gao Song's 17. Chen Xiaojia and Lu Wen added 12 apiece.
"We've been progressing well and moving forward. But we showed some softness today, we also stuck in how to move the ball, which is extremely important to us," said Thomas Maher, China's head coach.
China never looked in trouble when both sides met in the tournament's opener in Hengyang, where the hosts recorded a 84-24 dominating win.
Things seemed a little different when they met again. China suffered seven turnovers in the first quarter in front of their opponents' tough defense. Taking on a 9-0 spurt after New Zealand opened their scoring account on Kalani Purcell's second-chance offense, China built a seven-point lead on Chen Xiaojia's three-pointer buzzer beater.
China used a 7-0 run to start the second period, before extending their margin little by little thanks to higher efficiency in the offensive end. New Zealand's head coach Kennedy Kereama got a technical foul for complaining about the referee's decision. China built a 43-24 lead into the locker room.
"We are a very young team and still learning. We played quite poorly at times in the first half," said Maher.
Leading 69-41 to begin the last quarter, China maintained the rhythm of the game and led by as many as 39 points on Gao Song's three-pointer with 1:12 remaining.
Purcell led New Zealand with 14 points, the only player in the team to hit double-figure points.
"China deserved the win today. Coach Tom (Thomas) got them playing very good basketball. They are very fit and strong," commented Kereama.
"I've been to China many times. This is probably the fittest, strongest and deepest Chinese team that I've seen," he added.
China will face Czech Republic on Friday.
