CHENGDU, China, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai's defense played a decisive role in their 112-98 victory over Shaanxi despite the latter's crazy 3-pointer shooting performance in Women's Chinese Basketball Association (WCBA) league here on Sunday.
Shanghai's full-court press strategy functioned late in the game, forcing Shaanxi into consecutive turnovers. Leading 96-94 with three minutes left, Shanghai pulled away with a 9-0 run without being contested later on, leaving their opponents' 10-of-13 shots beyond the arc to no avail.
"Our defense gave us the results now and always will. Defense is something that each team can play, something that you play or you don't want to play," said Shanghai coach Milos Paden.
Peng Szu-Chin led Shanghai's charge with 25 points. Li Yingyun and Zhang Zhiting contributed 24 and 21 respectively. Zhang also grabbed 11 rebounds.
Ma Yufang's three-pointer at the buzzer pushed Shanghai to a 22-19 lead after the first quarter.
The two sides put on three-pointer shooting extravaganza in the second quarter, producing a total of 11 down the stretch. Shaanxi's Ma Xueru sank four 3-pointers, but Shanghai had different players contribute from 3-point range and managed to maintain a three-point advantage at the break.
Yang Luchenhong's three-pointer helped Shaanxi reverse the score at 79-75 heading into the final quarter, when many lead changes and ties took place.
"We are a young team and have been training together for only one month. We didn't handle well on some details today," Shaanxi coach Jiang E'Ying noted.
Shaanxi's Chen Yanyu registered a double-double of 29 points and 11 assists. Her backcourt partner Chen Xinlei pocketed 28 points.
"We failed on some ball possessions in crunch time," rued Chen Yanyu. "We were too impatient late in the game." Enditem
