China beats Japan to take women's basketball gold
Japan was resilient, forcing several turnovers from China and scoring from coast to coast. Forward Okamoto and Hayashi showed off their range as the duo combined for eight 3-pointers from 15 attempts.
Even though Japan kept hitting difficult 3-pointers, Han and Zhang took control of the game in the fourth quarter, and helped China close out the win.
China coach Li Sunnan praised his squad's efforts. "Except for Zhang Jingyi, all other players are student-athletes on campus. They have to balance their studies while also performing well in the game, which is challenging."
Unbeaten hosts China defeated Portugal and Poland with an accumulated points difference of 43 in the preliminary Group D. They then cruised past Brazil and Chinese Taipei in the quarterfinal and semifinal respectively.
Also on Saturday, Finland narrowly defeated Chinese Taipei 56-49 to take the bronze. Hungary beat Poland 64-52 in the 5th-6th playoff, and the Czech Republic nosed out Brazil 79-74 in the 7th-8th playoff.
