Guangdong beats Bayi for 2-1 lead in WCBA finals

NANCHANG, China - Guangdong defeated Bayi 98-91 away to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five Women's Chinese Basketball Association (WCBA) league finals here on Monday.

Bayi grabbed an 8-2 lead to start the game, as Li Meng led the home team with six points. Guangdong launched a 6-0 run to close up to two points by the end of the first quarter.

Both sides played a seesawed second quarter where bench player Zhang Dongxia made 20 of her 22 points to help Guangdong lead 54-48 into the second half.

Scoring only two points in the first five minutes of the third quarter, Bayi fell nine points behind before the last quarter.

As Bayi fought back hard in front of raucous home crowd, Li Yueru led Guangdong to dampen the hope of the hosts.

Zhang collected a team-high 22 points for Guangdong. Huang Sijing and Yang Liwei made 15 and 14 points respectively. For Bayi, Li Meng and Jin Jiabao scored 28 points apiece, with Sun Mengran adding 16 points.