TENERIFE, Spain, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese young squad unsurprisingly lost to title favorites the United States 100-88 but gained confidence at the 2018 FIBA Women's World Cup here on Sunday.
It was the second closest margin between two sides at major tournaments, only bigger than that when the United States triumphed 101-91 at the 1983 FIBA World Championship for Women.
"What we've gained the most from this match is confidence," said China's head coach Xu Limin.
"We don't want to play it at will, but take it as an important match. It's beneficial to team's development," he added.
Four Chinese players scored double digits, led by the 18-year-old center Han Xu with 20. Sun Mengran and Li Meng added 16 and 12 respectively.
"It's like a dream. Actually it's not a dream, but proof of my level in everyday training," said Han.
Power forward Liu Jiacen latched onto Li Yueru's pass for a deadlock-breaking layup. Diana Taurasi and Tina Charles combined for the first 11 points for the United States.
Commenced by captain Shao Ting's layup, China emphasized on attacking the basket inside the paint field, but the United States maintained their leading position after dispatching substitutes including the 2018 WNBA top draft pick A'Ja Wilson. Wilson's second chance basket handed the American team a 25-20 lead as the first quarter ran out.
Chinese basketballers continued their momentum in the second period, and came as close as one point with 3:10 remaining.
Then the United States steadied themselves on the 36-year-old Taurasi's three-pointer, and led 48-39 into the halftime.
Chinese promise Han Xu grabbed spotlight after the restart with four points in a row and a block at the other end of the court.
China cut into the U.S. lead through their all-round performance, while the basketball powerhouse kept their comfortable cushion from Breanna Stewart's consecutive points. Stewart, who had played in the Chinese league, scored 17 points in this quarter as the United States built a 77-68 advantage heading into the final 12 minutes.
"Just continuing myself a bit aggressive, finding my shot and doing what I can to help us have a bigger margin than we had," Stewart pointed out.
Morgan Tuck converted a three-point play, also seeing China's starting center Li Yueru fouled out with 7:58 to go. That started a 9-0 run to set the tone for the United States' victory at 90-73.
"We showed Chinese women basketballers' spirit to the world. Today's match can testify that if we shrug off our mental burden and unleash potential, we can achieve something," Xu pointed out.
Stewart had a game-high 23 points, added by Wilson's 20 and Charles' 16.
"China played really well. Obviously they competed with us during the majority of the game. Just go to show what they're doing at this standard, and they're here for a reason too," Stewart commented.
China will face Senegal in final round match of Group D on Tuesday, while the United States take on Latvia.
