CHENGDU (China) - Sichuan Yuanda Meile Basketball Club moved one win away from sweeping their way to the inaugural FIBA Women's Basketball League Asia (WBL Asia) crown by beating the Cathay Life Tigers, 85-65, on Friday night.
Once again turning the Jinqiang International Event Center in their own playground, the Pandas broke the game wide open in the second chapter to eventually collect their second win in as many games and take the provisional lead.
A win against the 1-1 Fujitsu Red Wave in the final game of the meet on Saturday night would formalize their ascension to the top of the newest league in the region.
Game heroes: Wang Siyu top-scored for the hosts with 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field. She scored 10 of her points in the second period alone.
Han Xu made 17 points and 6 rebounds, together with 2 assists, a steal, and a block each for a full line and a an efficiency of 20 - most in the game.
Li Meng supplied 16 points, spiked by a pair of triples, as Sichuan leaned on the star trio in ensuring that they won't be on the losing end of a massive upset like the Red Wave, whom the Tigers took down by way of a 76-70 result on Thursday.
Turning point: Game was tied at 17-all after the game's first 10 minutes but Wang spearheaded the Pandas' 34-point eruption for a 50-33 lead entering the break.
Stats don't lie: Both teams actually shot 45-percent from the floor but Sichuan won the rebounding battle, 42-31, and dished the ball better with 22 assists. They also took care of the ball better unlike their foes, who committed 21 turnovers.
FIBA