ASU women's basketball falls to Chinese National Team

November 15, 2007

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) - Lijie Miao hit a 22-footer at the top of the key with 16 seconds left to give the Chinese national team a 63-59 exhibition win Thursday night over No. 15 Arizona State.<separator></separator> <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/january_briann00.html"… January's</a> layup with 38 seconds left had given Arizona State a 59-58 lead but the Chinese ran down the clock for Miao's long shot. Xiaoli Chen added two free throws with four seconds remaining for the final margin.<separator></separator> January scored 19 points and had five assists for Arizona State while Nan Chen led all scorers with 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds.<separator></separator> The Chinese women outscored the Sun Devils 7-3 over the final two minutes after Arizona State made 7-of-8 free throws in a 40-second span to erase a 56-49 deficit.<separator></separator>The Chinese women, who split their six games on the U.S. college tour, ran off six straight points early in the second half after the Sun Devils got within 36-35 with 14:30 remaining to take control. Chen made 10-of-13 from the field before fouling out with 2:27 left.<separator></separator> <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/lacey_lauren01.html">L… Lacey</a> had 17 points for Arizona State, which lost an exhibition to the U.S. national team on Nov. 8 and then the season opener at North Carolina on Sunday.<separator></separator> Xiaoni Chen added 10 points, five rebounds and five assists for China.<separator></separator> China finished 3-3 on its six-game college tour, getting wins over New Mexico and Texas-El Paso while losing to North Carolina, Texas A&M and Rutgers. Ranked 10th in the world, the Chinese are preparing for next year's Beijing Olympics.<separator></separator> The Chinese women went on a 14-1 run to take an 18-6 lead in the first six minutes but Arizona State's pressure defense forced China into 10 turnovers in the final eight minutes of the half to rally back to within 30-28 at the break.