China finish women's Olympic basketball qualifiers with perfect 3-0

Players, coaches and working staff of China's women's national basketball team celebrate after defeating South Korea 100-60 in the third game of the 2020 FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belgrade, February 9, 2020. /VCG Photo

China's women's national basketball team beat South Korea 100-60 in the third game of the 2020 FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belgrade on Sunday, finishing the tournament with three straight wins.

40 points is also the biggest score differential between China and South Korea in any event organized by FIBA.

China already secured an Olympic spot after defeating Britain and Spain in the previous two games. Though China hold an obvious advantage over South Korea, last November, they lost to South Korea 81-80 in the second round of Olympic qualifying tournament. Besides, South Korea have Park Ji-su, a 1.86-meter center from the WNBA's Las Vegas Aces.

Simply speaking, it would take China their full power to win this game.

Li Meng, #9 of China, tries to break through defense in the game against South Korea at the 2020 FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belgrade, February 9, 2020. /VCG Photo

South Korea began the first quarter by leading 7-4, but soon China responded a 14-2 run to regain the lead. In the second quarter, South Korea were totally unable to stop China from scoring in both half-court offense and fast break. Another 16-2 run gave China a 23-point lead (47-24) after the first half.

South Korea began to grow hot from the 3-point line in the third quarter but so did China. The score difference kept drifting around 30 points. Nonetheless, as China launched another 11-0 run at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the game became a forgone conclusion.

Xu Limin, head coach of China, watches the game against South Korea from the sideline at the 2020 FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belgrade, February 9, 2020. /VCG Photo

One incident in the game happened in the third quarter when China led by 30 points, a score some of the players deemed satisfactory already. However, China's head coach Xu Limin yelled loudly at the team during a timeout: "What do you think you are doing on the court? You think you can afford to be sloppy? You think you won already? Is this game a joke to you?"

As unpleasant as those words were, coach Xu was simply trying to remind the team to stay alert. It turned out that his move worked. China pressed on to smash South Korea in the rest of the game.

Li Meng, nicknamed "China's LeBron James," has been China's best performing player, not only in Sunday's game, but also in the whole tournament. Having averaged a team-high of 17.6 points per game, she is one of the team's biggest heroes on the road to Tokyo.