Miao Lijie, Bian Lan and Chen Xiaoli combined for 40 points as China took a 63-51 victory over Latvia to finish third at an women's basketball Olympic warm-up tournament here on Tuesday.
The host lost to Australia in Group A and won over Mali in the preliminary round at the FIBA Diamond Ball, which will conclud after the title game later on Tuesday between the United States and Australia.
Taking this game with a grain of salt before the Olympic women's basketball tournament starting on Aug. 9, both sides didn't start their usual line-ups and made many substitutions during the game.
China looked better than Latvia from the very beginning and led the game as many as 15 points, 44-29, on the midway in the third period.
With nice defense, China forced Latvia to commit 22 tournovers including 16 at halftime and got 17 steals. But the Chinese shooting was poor with 16-for-51 field goals including 3-for-19 at the long range.
Miao scored 14 points, for only a four made from 12 attempts, while Bian and Chen tossed in 13 apiece and shot a little better with 46 and 60 percent each.
"Yes we still have a problem in shooting percent," Chinese coach Tom Maher said. "But we will insist to focus on the rebounds, which can ensure our ball control and was the most important thing for us. "
Ieva Kublina hit 10 points and was the only player who scored a double figure for Latvia, who edged Russia and lost to the Team USA in the preliminary round. The Latvian shot only 31 percent with 4-for-14 from the 3-pointer line.
China will play in Group B with the U.S, Spain, the Czech Republic, New Zealand and Mali, while Latvia will face Australia, Russia, Brazil, Belarus and South Korea in the Olympic Games.
The Chinese set their eyes to qualify for the quarterfinals firstly and then enter the semifinals at the Beijing Olympics Games.
"We will try for a bronze medal after entering the semifinals at Beijing," said Maher, who was the former head coach of Australia and New Zealand.
China finished ninth at the 2004 Athens Games, where Maher was the coach of New Zealand, who beat China in the preliminary round.
(Xinhua News Agency August 6, 2008)