WCBA 15/2008 - Jiangsu 126, Hayao 73

It was definitely a great day for Jiangsu (11-4). Not only were they able to crush visiting Hayao (7-8) by a score of 126-73 at home, but Bayi Telecom would end up losing to Liaoning on its home court by a score of 78-75. Bayi Telecom's loss gives Jiangsu sole possession of second place in the WNBA, only two games behind Liaoning.

The boxscore is here.

What do you write about a team that won each of its first three quarters by an average score of 16.6 points? Jiangsu led by 18 points at the end of the first quarter and crossed the half-century mark before the end of halftime, taking a 65-34 lead into the break. When Hayao could only put together 13 third quarter points, I don't think the outcome of the game would be in doubt by anyone.

Jiangsu shot 65 percent for the game. I don't know if that was because Jiangsu was shooting so well or because Hayao didn't put up a struggle (they only shot 41 percent). Add to that 21 turnovers by Hayao and this game was a foregone conclusion and a joy for the home fans.

It was time for the Jiansgu coaching staff to share the wealth. No player played more than 30 minutes on Jiangsu. Chen Xiaoja scored 24 points and nine rebounds to lead Jiangsu. Ann Strother scored 18 points and five rebounds in 23 minutes of play. Xu Song would score 16 points and five rebounds, and Bian Lan would add 13 points.

Leading for Hayao was Tan Xiaofei who scored all of her 16 points in just 13 minutes of play. Miao Lijie scored 13 points for Hayao and Liu Jiacen scored 10 points and five rebounds. Hu Rui Jiao would lead Hayao with rebounds with seven.

I wonder what the audience will look like if I get pictures. This is one of those games to which you go home early to beat the traffic.