XI'AN, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- Shaanxi Tianze women's basketball team announced that the Women's Chinese Basketball Association league (WCBA) side would settle in the hometown of the Terracotta Warriors in the upcoming new season.
"We expect the team to work miracles in the capital city of ancient China," said Zhang Zexin, the general manager of the sports department in the Tianze group.
Shaanxi women's basketball team was established in the year 1958. But the development of basketball in Shaanxi was hindered in the 1990s when group games were neglected as local sports administrators put too much attention on individual events, which were seen as easy ways to grab medals in the national stage competitions.
In 2016, working with the Tianze basketball club, the Shaanxi sports bureau rebuilt the women's team. In the 2017-2018 season, Tianze took part in its ground-breaking WCBA league. In the last season, Shaanxi secured the 13th place in the 18-team league.
Besides leaving Weinan for Xi'an, Tianze made some adjustments in its squad. The team selected Ma Lihua and Duan Xiuxiu in the pre-season WCBA Draft. In addition, the Chinese University Basketball Association league (CUBA) title winners Ma Jiaying and Yang Luhongchen joined the team in September 2019.
Former WNBA player Theresa Plaisance will continue to play for the Tianze team in the season.
"You know on the off-season the girls were working really hard and we made a lot of improvements," Theresa told Xinhua.
"We wanted to make playoffs push in the season," the 27-year-old added.
Tianze will start its new season campaign on this Saturday, facing Jiangsu in Xi'an Jiaotong University's Siyuan sports center.
