WCBA – Guangdong, Shenyang strike first in semi-finals

BEIJING (WCBA) - Lijie Miao once again led Shenyang Golden Lions by example as the WCBA regular season champions got their post-season campaign off to a flying start with a 92-82 road win in their semi-final series against over two-time defending champions Liaoning Hengye on Tuesday.

Bayi Kylin, the only other team apart from Liaoning to have won the WCBA championship, also ended up losing at home, dropping Game 1 of the other semi-final series 58-50 against Guandong Dolphins.

Game 2 of the best-of-three semifinal series is scheduled for Friday.

Irresistible Miao

Miao (pictured), the long-serving point guard who had hinted at international retirement following the Asian Games last December, proved as unstoppable as ever.

The 30-year-old fired made 10 of her 15 shots - including three of five from three-point range - on her way to 29 points and capped her fine performance with four assists and two blocks.

Song Liwei added 22 points while Zhao Shuang finished with 15 points and Zhang Han Lan had a dozen points in Shenyang’s winning cause.

Former Phoenix Mercury center Kara Braxton poured in a game-high 30 points and collected a colossal 23 rebounds for Liaoning. Ma Zheng-yu and Chen Xiaoli each added 16.

Swin stars for Guangdong

Meanwhile, Guangdong’s WNBA star Swin Cash led the way in their defeat of Bayi.

A winner of three gold medals with the USA in major international competitions - most recently at the 2010 FIBA World Championship for Women - the 187cm forward had 20 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks.

Wei Wei and Huang Hongpin chipped in with 10 points each.

Chen Lisha’s 18 points and 10 rebounds led Bayi’s cause. Nan Chen had 11 points and Lu Wen 10.

FIBA Asia