The Shenyang women's basketball team beat neighboring Liaoning in a home game to win the first match of the WCBA finals.

The game was suspended for several minutes in the third quarter as the home fans vented their anger over questionable calls by the referee.

Shenyang came back from a 34-31 down in the first half to defeat Liaoning 82-66.

Liu Dan had a game high of 27 points and 13 rebounds for Shenyang, while Hu Xiaotao added 21 points.

Chen Xiaoli led Liaoning with 16 points, while Chen Miao nipped 15.

Shenyang will visit Liaoning in the upcoming finals match on Saturday. They only need this one victory to win the league title.

(CRI English February 22, 2006)