To say that Team Kazakhstan were obliterated would be an understatement for the ages as the Taiwanese college women All-Stars won 149-55 in the women’s preliminary play at the Jones Cup tournament at Sinjhuang Gymnasium yesterday afternoon.
Team Taiwan came out of the gates aggressively on both sides of the court. They employed a run-and-gun offense and clamped down on the defensive end, never giving up their full-court press while picking off easy steals.
Exhaustion did the Kazakh national women’s team in — something expected given the team had only seven of eight players on hand. Their bench strength was further depleted when a player went down with an injury to the jaw late in the first quarter. With only one bench player available, it meant only the point guards could substitute for each other while the rest played on.
A balanced Taiwanese attack was led by Yang Shih-hui’s 25 points and the sly play of guard Huang Hung-ying, who scored 23 points, while Su Shih-ting recorded 15. With Yang Shu-ching — who scored 13 in the game — exploiting Kazakhstan’s defensive holes early on, the All-Stars went ahead 40-5 at the end of the first quarter and 72-23 by halftime.
Kazakhstan’s play was littered with turnovers, mostly because of the team’s depleted energy. Lidarya led all scorers in the game, netting 34 points for the Kazakhs, followed by Rima Frangyan’s 12 points. Their combined output accounted for over 80 percent of Team Kazakhstan’s total points.
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