Japan and South Korea enjoyed big wins in second-day William Jones Cup action, with Japan’s female cagers routing a toothless US side 92-53, while South Korea thrashed Thailand 60-41 at the Sinjhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City yesterday.
In the domestic derby last night, the nation’s senior side schooled the junior side, with Taiwan A defeating Taiwan B 70-51.
The US’ Overtake Team tasted their own bitter medicine, coming out on the losing end of a lopsided scoreline when they were routed by a well-organized, attacking Japanese side.
The US had come in looking as if they would have the advantage after blowing away Thailand 93-44 the day before, whereas Japan just scraped by Taiwan A by 73-68 in their opening-day game.
Japan put on an impressive display with teamwork and solid defense, and spread out their scoring with contributions from key players.
Starting guard Hayashi Saki led with 14 points, followed by 11 for Evelyn Mawuli, the Japanese power forward born in Toyohashi City of Aichi Prefecture to parents from Ghana, while three other teammates posted 10 points each.
Shooting accuracy deserted the US cagers, as they only shot 30 percent through the game, while Japan shot 64.6 percent and netted nine three-pointers, while the US team did not sink any threes.
South Korea’s Incheon Shinhan Bank S-Birds cruised past Thailand, going in front 36-22 at halftime, before pulling of a 19-point victory.
Taiwan A forward Liu Hsi-hua had an outstanding evening in leading her side in the domestic derby to the win over Taiwan B, who are the junior squad preparing for the Summer Universiade hosted by Taipei next year.
Starters Lin Hsien-fang and Peng Shih-ching also put in fine displays, chipping in nine and eight points respectively for Taiwan A.
Center Wang Wei-lin was the best player for Taiwan B, pocketing nine points and grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds in a losing effort.
Taiwan B started the better side by going ahead 15 to 14 at the end of the first quarter, but Team A rallied for 21 points to surge in front 35-23 at halftime. Team A scored another 35 points in the second half, compared with 28 for Team B, for the victory.
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