China's women's basketball team outplayed France 103-70 for their third victory in the FIBA Women's World Cup qualification tournament in Belgrade on Sunday, topping Group B and confirming a place at September's tournament.
In a great team effort, China dominated from the outset, earning a 13-point lead after the first quarter and expanding it up to 36 points.
China outplayed France in scoring precision too, easily creating opportunities from turnovers and fast breaks thanks to well-placed assists.
Huang Sijing shone in the winning team with 30 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists, while six other players had double-digit performances — Yang Liwei (14 points), Li Meng (11), Li Yueru (10), Han Xu (12), Zhang Ru (10) and Wang Siyu (10 points, 15 assists).
Marine Johannes (16 points) and Gabby Williams (14 points) were most efficient for France.
China coach Zheng Wei said that the team earned this big win against such a strong team thanks to fixing all the problems in their games over the course of the competition.
"Actually, when we arrived in Serbia, we had two friendly games with Brazil and Serbia. We did not have so many international games recently so we did not adjust very well. We fixed all our problems after these games, and also after the first two games against Nigeria and Mali. Every time after every game we watched the video, we fixed the problems and that is why today we could play so well," she said.
"We don't care who we play, we want to be better ourselves. That is why you can see that we improve step by step. It's not only technically, but mentally when it comes to teamwork and team spirit," said Huang Sijing.
France coach Jean Aime Toupane said he felt "sorry for the players" not being able to find an answer against China and losing the match by 33 points, but said he would analyze the match in order to improve his team.
Iliana Rupert said she felt disappointed to lose, but was relieved that the team will still participate at the World Cup despite this defeat.
This is China's third victory in three games played here in the Group B tournament against Nigeria, Mali and France.
Earlier on Sunday, Nigeria achieved its second victory against Mali, ending up second in the group. With one win, France ranks third and will also participate at the World Cup in Australia this September, while Mali is eliminated.
