LONDON, United Kingdom (2012 London Olympics): China certainly were on a leather hunt for the entire first half in their Group A Prelim Round game in the 2012 London Olympics women’s basketball competition game on Wednesday, but came back with vengeance in the second to post a facile 76-52 victory. (Game report)

“We lost our concentration in the first half,” said Ma Zengyu, who scored 7 of her joint game-high 15 points in the third quarter, during which China asserted dominance with a 24-6 run and took charge of the game.

“Maybe we had some easy game earlier. We didn't face too much difficulty in the first two wins, we overrated ourselves,” Ma admitted.

“After the halftime break, we made adjustments and quickly controlled the match.”

“Our defense was poor in the beginning. We didn’t focus enough in the first quarter,” said the iconic Miao Lijie playing her third successive Olympics.

“But we preformed our best in the second half and proved that there are still distances between the two teams,” said Miao who dished out a game-high 5 assists to go with 6 points.

It was also the first time in the competition that China used all their players – and all of them scored.

Ji Yanyan was one of the players who soaked in the excitement of playing in an Olympics game for the first time.

Benched in China’s first two wins, the Heilongjiang Chenneng center, who topped the 2011-12 WCBA scoring charts, came on in the third quarter and played a pivotal role in helping China propel forward.

“I feel excited about my first Olympic game,” said Ji, who had six points.

“Playing in an Olympic game means success to me. I will try to give my best to the team and enjoy the Olympics.”

FIBA Asia