CHENGDU (China) - Sichuan Yuanda Meile Basketball Club began their FIBA Women's Basketball League Asia (WBL Asia) with a resounding 83-45 conquest of the Surabaya Fever, Thursday night at the Jinqiang International Event Center.
The Pandas overcame a bit of a slow start early but there was no stopping them once they took control as the crew cruised to the lopsided victory en route to joining the Cathay Life Tigers as the early leaders of the quick single round-robin tilt.
Game heroes: A total of four players finished in double figures in the win, with Tang Ziting leading the way with a game-high 13 points and 8 rebounds.
Star center Xu Han registered 12 points. Jia Saiqi and Le Shuangfei chipped in 11 points apiece as all 12 players contribute at least a point for Sichuan.
Abby Bishop scored just 2 but her presence was huge for the hosts as she had 12 rebounds, becoming the only player to hit double digits in boards in the game.
Turning point: The Fever actually started out well and built an 8-2 lead, but the tested trio of Xu, Wang Siyu, and Li Meng joined hands and tied the game up at 11-all.
But they didn't stop there. With Song Gao helping out as well, Sichuan would score 11 points more - unanswered - for a 22-11 advantage to end the opening period.
The game would never be in doubt, as the Pandas coasted to the 38-point rout.
Stats don't lie: Sichuan almost went perfect from the free throw line with a 15-of-16 clip in the dominant win that also saw the crew rule the boards, 64-45.
FIBA