Akaho Himawari scored 15 points to help Japan beat China 61-58 to open a women's basketball pre-Olympic warm-up series in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, on Wednesday.

Zhang Ru helped the hosts take a 5-0 lead at the start, and Luo Xinyu hit back-to-back three-pointers as China led 20-13 after the first quarter.

In the second quarter, China suffered a scoring drought that lasted more than five minutes. Japan stormed from behind and took a two-point edge midway through the period. The hosts then changed their offensiuve tactics and went into halftime knotted at 31-31 with the Tokyo Olympic Games runners-up.

Yang Shuyu connected on her first basket in the third quarter, giving China a five-point cushion. Facing the home side's solid defense, Mai Yamamoto and Evelyn Mawuli of Japan kept firing from beyond the arc, and cut the deficit to three going into the final quarter.

Yamamoto and Saki Hayashi maintained Japan's momentum and carried the visitors to a 51-50 lead after the first two minutes of the last period. With three minutes and 51 seconds remaining, Himawari Akaho increased Japan's advantage to seven points on an easy layup.

China tried to claw back in the dying minutes, but Japan held on to seal the road win.

"We have played four tough games consecutively, the busy schedule is a challenge for us," China's head coach Zheng Wei said.

On Friday, China will face Japan again on the same court.