AUCKLAND, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- China beat the New Zealand Tall Ferns 94-71 in their second round Group A match of the FIBA Women's Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament for Asia-Oceania Region at the Trusts Arena in Auckland on Saturday.
Although the host team's Kalani Purcell had 21 points and 6 rebounds, it was still an unparalleled game for China. Li Meng led with 18 points for China and other three Chinese players scored more than 10 points.
Head Coach for New Zealand Guy Molloy admitted that China had more passes, breaks and defensed much better than the Tall Ferns. "I think we leant a Basketball lesson from China. They did everything well today." Molloy said.
Kalani Purcell mentioned after the game," Honestly I thought I played very well, but as a team, we still cannot compete with China."
Chinese coach Xu Liming said it was quite hard days after losing to South Korea two days ago, but he was happy the young girls overcome the difficulties and won a strong competition today. "I trust them have the ability to confront the strong opponent under great pressure, and they made it. It is also good experience for them to play more mature in the future games."
In another game, South Korea won against the Philippines 114-75.
The last match of this pre-qualifying round will be held here in Auckland tomorrow with the first two teams of Group A moving forward.
