France stun China with impressive performance

XI'AN (China) - China hoped to book an early qualification to the Paris Olympic Games 2024, but France had other plans.

 

Behind torrid shooting and relentless pressure, Les Bleues dashed the home team's hopes of qualifying for the Olympic Games on Day 2 of the FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2024 in Xi'an with a score of 82-50. Gabby Williams and Marine Johannes each scored 17 points in a dominant display for France, which never trailed after the first quarter. Li Meng was the lone bright spot for China with 21 points.

Turning Point: Both teams started sluggishly in this game, with China last tasting the lead at 10-8 after Li Yueru's layup. After that, however, Johannes and Romane Bernies combined to drain three triples in a row to wrest the lead from the hosts for good, 17-10, to end the first period. It was just a single-digit deficit, but coach Zheng Wei's squad could no longer regain their composure after that initial shock.

TCL Player of the Game: In a game where Johannes' shooting touch remained hot and much of the hype surrounded China's vaunted frontline, it was France's Gabby Williams who stood the tallest. She flirted with a double-double, tallying 17 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 block in an all-around efficient effort.

Stats don't lie​: Shooting and rebounding proved to be the critical differences between the two sides here. In the first half alone, France outshot China, 48.7 percent to 25.0 percent from the field, and outrebounded their taller foes, 25-14. There was no getting back for China after the break as the visitors never relinquished their pressure. France's biggest lead for the game stood at 43, 80-37, with 5 minutes left in the game.

Bottom Line​: China will have to wait. They need to beat Puerto Rico in their next game to successfully qualify for Paris. France, meanwhile, are gaining a lot of momentum en route to their appearance in front of their own home fans in the Olympic Games. Coach Jean Aime Toupane must like what he saw from his team on Day 2.

 

They said: "We are really happy for this win. China is a good team, but today what our team did was really great. We had good defense, pushed the ball and shared the ball. This was a wonderful outcome. We know China has very good chemistry and plays very well. Our main goal was to try to deny all the ball movement. I think that was the most important for us, to put pressure on the ball." - Jean Aime Toupane, France head coach

"This was good for our confidence. Obviously, we were already qualified, so this was about us and proving what we could do. Beating a really good China team is important for us." - Gabby Williams, France forward

"I just want to apologize to people all over the country for this game. Maybe it's a long time since we played an opponent like France. At the start, we weren't used to the intensity of France's defense. They broke the timing of our sets and played good defense. We didn't adjust our mindset. Today, we had just 14 assists but 22 turnovers, which is not our style. We didn't play our game and didn't play as efficiently as we wanted. For the next game, we'll keep going and fighting. We'll be ready." - Zheng Wei, China head coach

"First, I want to thank everybody for coming during the Chinese New Year. Second, we will keep fighting till the end. Today, we didn't play our game well. There's still one more game to go, and we will not lose our confidence. We'll keep fighting." - Li Meng, China guard

FIBA