Chinese women's basketball team defeated Nigeria 71-59 in the last match of the World Championship Preliminary Group phase yesterday in Brazil, clinching a spot in the last 12.

Miao Lijie dominated with a game-high 22 points while Chen Xiaoli and Chen Nan tallied 20 and 13 points respectively to help China to victory.

Itoro Umoh led Nigeria with 14 points and Mfon Sunday Udoka contributed 13 points.

Before yesterday's game, the two teams had both lost their first two preliminary matches with this game presenting their last chance to progress.

China started shooting from the outside and opened the game with four 3-pointers. After triggering a 15-0 run, the Chinese had an early advantage at 24-15 going into the second quarter.

The less team-played Nigerian tried to fight back, but only to find more fluent attacks from the Chinese. They trailed 33-26 after the first half.

The beginning of the second half saw a rather low shooting percentage from China, only managing to make one shot in the first six minutes into the third quarter, letting Nigeria play "carpe diem" to slash the lead to one point at 37-36. It was the Chinese duo of Chen Xiaoli and Chen Nan who erupted for a 10-0 spurt, helping China control the pace of the game again and lead 53-38 after 36 minutes.

"We were prepared for this game. We did the best we could and we are very happy with this victory," said Chen Xiaoli, China's 1.92m center.

"It was a great contest. Nigeria is so strong, and the way they rebounded today was a big problem for us. Now we have very strong opponents ahead of us," said Tom Maher, head coach of the Chinese team.

"It's amazing how much they have improved. It was a great game. I'm very proud of Nigeria," said Nigeria's head coach, Kevin Cook.

China will face Cuba, France and Czech Republic in the elimination round with the formidable East Europeans awaiting the Chinese on Saturday.

(China.org.cn by Li Xiao, September 15, 2006)