China's defense wins a close underdog victory

Spain's Elisa Aguilar López （Photo credit： Getty）Photo Gallery%26gt；%26gt；

（BEIJING， August 9） -- In their Women's Basketball group B encounter with Spain on August 9， China used tough defense to contain their opponents and win the game despite their 18 turnovers.

Spain ranks fifth in the world， and won the silver in the 2007 European Championship. The Chinese team， although backed by huge home crowd， rank only 10th in the world and were less favored to win.

China had a strong start， pounding Spain 9-0 after four minutes. All nine points were scored inside the paint except for one free throw. Spain quickly called a time-out， after which they responded with a 13-4 run thanks to three three-pointers. Both teams then went on with tough defense and finished the first quarter 18-15 in China's favor.

In the second quarter， China's defense suffocated Spain's perimeter shooting and China only gave up four points after five and a half minutes. Meanwhile， they scored 14 points， five coming from team captain Miao Lijie. China maintained their form and finished the first half 37-24.

Chinese center Chen Nan dominated the paint in the first half， scoring 10 points while grabbing eight rebounds， and Miao shot 80% from the field and contributed nine points. Spanish guard Elisa Aguilar López， who was playing in her 134th game representing her country， scored eight points in the first half.

Spain regained their shooting touch in the beginning of the third quarter. Forward Alba Torrens and Anna Montañana led their offense with sharp penetrations and accurate shooting. Thanks to a 12-3 run， they reduced the deficit to 40-36. China called a crucial time-out after that， coming back to score in all three of the following possessions， bringing their lead back to 46-36. However， several turnovers later on reduced their lead to 52-44 at the end of third quarter.

China started the last quarter with a three-pointer from guard Song Xiaoyun， but they couldn't stop Torrens from scoring nine points in six minutes. More turnovers continued to diminish their lead. After Torrens made her 14th point in this quarter at 1：02 minutes to go， the game was brought to a 65-62 last-minute showdown. However， center Cindy Orquidea Lima's turnover at 14 seconds buried any chance for Spain to come back. After two made free throws， China took the match 67-64.

Torrens was the top scorer of the match， netting 18 points with just 12 attempts. Anna Montañana added 13 points and seven rebounds. China's Bian Lan contributed 15 points and 12 rebounds， while Chen Nan also had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. China grabbed 48 rebounds the whole match， 13 more than their opponents. Their defense held Spain to 23% three-point shooting.