8 June 2018
By Maxine Louise Lagman
BOCAUE, Bulacan – China and Spain swept the opening round of the 2018 FIBA 3×3 World Cup in the women’s tournament on Friday at the Philippine Arena.
Top-ranked China remained unscathed after defeating France 16-14 and Switzerland 21-20 to lead Pool B with a 2-0 record.
Li YingYun and Jiang JiaYin combined for 13 points for China, leaving France unable to make a comeback from their earlier win against Argentina.
China also escaped Switzerland in one of the toughest games of Day One. Nancy Fora gave Switzerland its lead 20-19 with a layup, but Li shot a booming two-pointer at the corner that gave China its second win.
No. 12 Spain on the other hand took over Pool D as they won over 11th ranked Germany and silver medalist Hungary.
Paula Palomares powered Spain with nine points to defeat the Germans, 18-12, while Vega Gineno took on the lead on their game against Hungary with seven points, easily taking a 19-14 win.
Switzerland’s Marielle Giroud scored the most points in the women’s division with 20, while China’s Li fell two points short with 18.
In the men’group, seventh-ranked Poland and Estonia earned a 2-0 lead in Pool B.
Poland’s Michael Hicks was Day One’s top performer with 18 points after winning against Indonesia (22-6) and Slovenia (21-17). Estonia had back-to-back wins as well after defeating Japan (17-11) and Indonesia (22-10).
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