Chen Nan scored 25 points and grabbed eight rebounds to help China defend its Asian women's basketball championship title with a 73-67 win over South Korea.
China broke a 64-64 tie after the end of three quarters on Sunday, facing down their archrivals with an impressive show of mental toughness.
The Asian championship is China's third in a row.
Also on Sunday, upstart Taiwan overpowered Japan 73-62 to take bronze in the tournament. Taiwan grabbed an 18-14 lead which they stretched to 36-30 by halftime and held off a late charge from their northern neighbors.
The final saw the Chinese women exploiting their height advantage, outrebounding the South Koreans 32-18. The Chinese women also shot 76.1 percent from the free-throw line to add 16 points against just three points on free throws for the South Koreans.
China's Australian-born coach Tom Maher said the showing marked a good start to preparations for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
"My only goal is the 2008 Games," said Maher, who led Australia to bronze at the 1996 Olympic Games and silver in 2000 before replacing Gong Luming as China's coach in March.
Maher's next challenge will be the FIBA World Championship for Women in Brazil next year, where the competition will be much tougher.
China failed to make it to the quarterfinals last year at the Athens Olympics, where no Asian team finished in the top eight.
Sunday's win was made more significant by the absence of star guard Miao Lijie and forward Sui Feifei, who play professionally in the US, showing a new depth to the Chinese squad.
"Miao and Sui would have eased our offensive problems if they were in the tournament, but South Korea is still a tough opponent to beat," China's team manager Bai Xilin said on the sidelines.
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