China owns the third quarter; Stays unbeaten with 76-52 rout of Angola – London Olympics Women Basketball Recap
The Chinese women basketball team continued their dominance in the Olympic tournament when they routed Angola 76-52.
The victory is their third in as many games and puts them at the top of Group A.
Angola attempted to give China a tough time, trailing by only 2 points at halftime. However, the Chinese team turned the game around in the third period, when they outscored the Angolans 24-6. It was a done deal after that and China cruised to a comfortable victory in the end.
Zengyu Ma finished with 15 points and 6 rebounds for China, while Nan Chen also added 15 points and 4 rebounds. Sonia Guadalupe led the Angolans in scoring, finishing with 12 points for the night.
The Angolans seemed to be in fine form at the start of the game, and pushed the Chinese to the limit. They matched each play by the Chinese and led at different intervals in the first period. China scored the final four points of the period to take a 15-13 lead into the second frame, as Angola failed to score in the final 3 minutes and 21 seconds of the period.
China opened the second period with an 8-2 run that enabled them to take a 23-15 lead, the largest of the night till that point.
But the Angolans were determined to compete with the mighty Asians, and scored 7 straight points to reduce the deficit to only 1 point. They took a one point lead twice in the ensuing passage before Ma scored a buzzer beating three pointer to finish the 1st half with China ahead at 33-31.
The Chinese came out firing in the third period and showed exactly why they are unbeaten in the tournament so far. They scored 24 points in the quarter, the highest for the game, and held the Angolans to only six points.
Angola seemed lost on offense after challenging the Chinese for the whole of the first half. They went 3 of 16 from the field for the quarter, and committed a number of turnovers to allow the Chinese to build a massive lead and end their chances of taking a victory. After leading by only 2 points at halftime, China started the final quarter with a comfortable 57-37 lead.
Angola needed to do what China did in the third period if they wanted to win the game in the final quarter, but fell way short of that.
China outscored Angola 19-15 in the final period and never looked in trouble as they cruised to victory.
Luisa Tomas finished with 11 points and 9 rebounds for Angola, going 5 of 6 from the field. Felizarda Jorge scored added 10 points, but went 3 of 15 from the field for the night.
Song Gao scored 8 points and 9 grabbed rebounds for China, who shot better from the field than Angola.
China earned 27 free throws out of which they scored on 23. The Angolan side only managed 10 free throws in contrast, and scored on 8 giving China a 15 point advantage in free throws alone. Angola have now lost all three of their opening games at the Olympics, and will attempt to salvage some pride in the next two games.
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