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BEIJING, China, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Defending champions Beijing beat Bayi 82-65 at home to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five Women's Chinese Basketball Association (WCBA) league finals here on Tuesday.
Sylvia Fowles started the match with shot in the paint before Sun Mengran of Bayi answered with a three-pointer. Beijing played the match like a team while their opponents playing like five individuals. The defending champions had a 10-0 streak to finish the first quarter 23-11.
Things didn't change much after the break. After Shi Xiufeng's jump shot and the free-throw followed, Beijing extended their advantage to 20 points. They had a 16-4 run in the late second quarter to go 49-26 up before halftime.
Bayi gradually cut the deficit down to 14 points after halftime before Fowles scored eight points in two minutes to ensure the hosts still lead 18 points into the last quarter and eventually a comfortable victory.
The defending champions failed to score a single three-pointer in the match but Fowles impressively hit all her 13 shots to have game-high 27 points and 14 rebounds. Shao Ting had 13 points and seven rebounds. Sun Mengran contributed 24 points and eight rebounds for Bayi.
"Thanks to our preparation we won the match tonight, the players had done perfect work in the first two games but we will not be relaxed until we clinch the trophy," said Xu Limin, Beijing's head coach.
The third game will take place in Beijing on Thursday.
