A superb start gave the Chinese a 15-4 lead over the 2010 World Championship runners-up, and although the Czechs closed the gap to 20-16 by the end of the first quarter, China kept them at bay.
It was not until the third quarter that they drew level, 55-55, on Michaela Zrustova’s three-pointer, but they looked to have little left in the tank as China finished on an 11-2 run to take the win.
Czech coach Lubor Blazek admitted: ‘In the beginning, we let the Chinese overplay us.
‘All game long we were trying to catch up. What we needed was just one time to lead by a couple of points for my team to calm down.’
Ma Zengyu led China with 16 points while Miao Lijie added 12 and had eight assists.
Eva Viteckova had 14 points for the Czech Republic
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