DONGGUAN (China) - Dongguan New Century roared in the third canto en route to keeping Cathay Life winless, 75-72, to sweep their way into the WBL Asia 2025 Semi-Finals, Friday night at the Dongguan Sports Center.
Yang sisters Shuyu and Liwei bannered the assault in the said chapter, turning a nine-point halftime edge to a 59-37 lead entering the fourth as the crew collectively held their foes to only 10 points, never to recover.
As a result, the reigning WCBA champions finished as the top team in Group A with a pristine 2-0 record, thus forging a final four showdown with Group B's no. 2 in WKBL counterparts Busan BNK Sum (1-1).
The Semi-Finals will be on Saturday, September 27.
"Our defense wasn't doing so well when we played against [Ulaanbaatar Amazons]. So for the past two days we've been working on defense, and I'm satisfied," offered head coach Zheng Wei post-game.
Shuyu top-scored for Dongguan with 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field. Chen Mingling finished with 16 points after missing just one of her nine shots, while Huang Sijing added 11 points off the bench.
Blessing Ejiofor was just a few points shy of a double-double as she tallied 6 points and 15 of the team's 41 rebounds in the win that also saw the crew shoot 50.8-percent from the field and rack up 21 assists.
Han Ya En, on the other hand, made 15 points and 5 rebounds to lead the Tigers from Chinese Taipei, who won't be competing for any medal as they finished the Group Phase winless after a pair of outings.
Huang Ling-Chuan added 11 points for the 2024 inaugurals' silver medalists.
Cathay Life will look to end their campaign strongly when they take on another 0-2 team in Al Ula Club of Saudi Arabia in the Classification 5-6 on Saturday as well, prior to the Semi-Finals.
FIBA