Boomers defeat Chinese National Women’s Team in pre-season thriller
In the most anticipated match of the pre-season The Deakin Melbourne Boomers have defeated the Chinese national team in an thrilling encounter held at Casey Basketball Stadium, 79-70.
Maddie Garrick was outstanding with a game high 26 points, supported by Ezi Magbegor on 22. China’s Liang Jiamei put on a fine display from beyond the arc, draining six three-pointers to finish the game with 17.
The Chinese opened the game strong, and with their height and physical defence, displayed just why they’re ranked 7th in the world.
Within the opening minute of the first quarter Jiamei hit her first three-pointer, showcasing China’s impressive shooting ability, and they didn’t stop there, the group hitting ten three-pointers through the game.
However the Boomers rose to the challenge and by the quarter time buzzer were in the lead 23-18.
It was in the second quarter that the Boomers really started to gel. Great defensive pressure from Kalani Purcell, plus the injection of Cayla George into the game with two-minutes remaining, saw them extend their lead to eight into the half-time break, 46-38.
Garrick opened the third quarter with a jaw-dropping three-pointer. But throughout the third, China really cranked the heat up and with only 0:44 left on the clock Fang Min scored two from the line bringing the gap down to a two point lead in the Boomers favour. A score from Toni Farnworth left the Boomers with a four point lead heading into the final quarter 60-56
It was here that the looked as though it could go either way. Quick to close the gap China locked scores 60-60 with nine minutes to go. The rest of the match was basket for basket, China eventually taking the lead with a three-pointer. This was quickly rebutted by Boomers with a quick basket by Penina Davidson.
Following a technical foul called on the Chinese coach W. Guizhi, Garrick made the free throw and the Boomers took possession.
With 0:47 left on the clock, Magbegor sealed the win scoring an inside basket. Garrick put the game beyond doubt, nailing a three with 3.7 seconds remaining.
Purcell was pleased with the performance and believes it set the Boomers up nicely as they build towards the start of the WNBL season in October.
“It was a good win. From our first game that we played on Saturday, there is definitely a lot of improvement that we made in this game against China” she said.
“They’re a really good shooting team and I think we did a pretty decent job… we can only go up from here.”
Head Coach Guy Molloy also saw the improvement “I think we made some progress from our first practice game because we wanted to focus a lot more on our defence.”
“We had some different offence we were working on tonight. You would expect a natural improvement from pre-season game two, after pre-season game one so I think we got that.”
“Our effort was stronger, so overall a pretty good night.”
The Boomers will next head to Latrobe Valley for The Triple Crown, where they will play Bendigo Spirit on Sunday September 15th.
Deakin Melbourne Boomers – 79 (Maddie Garrick 26, Ezi Magbegor 22)
Chinese National Women’s Team – 70 (Liang Jimaei 18, Shan Wanli 17)