Mali women's hoops fall to China in second half

(BEIJING, August 2) -- Latvia beating Russia on the first night of the FIBA Diamond Ball for Women was a surprise, especially on Becky Hammon's debut game with the Russian team, but China's victory over Mali 91-67 was not a shock, though the game opened with an evenly matched first half.

In the first quarter Mali's top scorers Hamchetou Maiga and center Djenebou Sissoko came out already going up strong in the paint. With 2:46 left in the first, Sissoko managed a fast break lay-up off of a bad pass by China's Chen Xiaoli to give 2007 Africa Champion Mali its biggest lead of the game, 18-13. The quarter almost ended with a Mali advantage until China's Sui Feifei hit a three and guard Bian Lan put up a fast break lay-up to pull their team ahead 20-18.

Neither team made much progress in the second quarter, going to the break 35-32 in China's favor, but it was the second half where the game really began to belong to China. Despite Sissoko and Maiga continuing to go to the hole strong, China racked up the points and already had a ten-point lead with three minutes left on the clock. In total, China outscored Mali by eight points to close out the third quarter 61-50.

In the fourth quarter China absolutely ran away with the score. They took a quick nine points after getting fouled by Mali on three made shots in a row and sinking the extra free throws, all within the first minute and a half of the quarter. Mali had a staggering game-total 20 fouls to China's five. After a night of inaccurate shooting on both sides, China's players found precision and outscored Mali by 13 points in the fourth. China closed out the game 91-67 without ever allowing Mali to lead by more than five points.

Mali's Sissoko and China center Chen Nan tied for the game's top score, both with 24 points. The second-highest point contribution of the night was from Maiga with 17. Mali's Nagnouma Coulibaly grabbed the most rebounds with 10 boards. China's forward Miao Lijie sunk an impressive three of four shots from behind the arc, bringing her score to 11 and tying with teammate Chen Xiaoli. Sui Feifei also added to her team's victory with 13 points and five rebounds.

Both Mali and China will compete in the Olympic Women's Basketball tournament in group B.