Indonesian women lost to Canton junior 59-93

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian women's basketball team suffered a 93-59 defeat at the hands of the Canton junior team in their first friendly in Canton, China.

Women's team manager Max B. Lani said in a release that Indonesia was down by 13 at the end of the first quarter, 27-14. In the second quarter, Indonesia was unable to narrow the gap, going into the half trailing 59-33.

The team, which is training for the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Kuala Lumpur in September, fell even further adrift coming out of the half, finding themselves on the short-end of a 77-47 score as the whistle blew on the quarter. Things did not get any better for the Indonesians, and fourth quarter mercifully came to a close, ending a tough day for the visitors.

Max said that in the first quarter, his players were shocked by the size of the Chinese players, who averaged 1.85 meters in height, with one Chinese player standing 1.91m tall.

"The players were dumbfounded after seeing the towering Cantonese players. But now they might get accustomed to it," he said.

Max said that in the second quarter his team was able to get back into their game. However, he said his squad couldn't pull close because the Cantonese players were making so many three- pointers.

Yuni led the Indonesians with 16 points and four rebounds, Theresa Ninon had 13 points and three rebounds and Dwi Ratna Herawati chipped in 10 points and three rebounds.

The Canton junior team is preparing for a multisport event in Canton in November.

On Thursday, the Indonesians will play the Canton senior team. Overall, the Indonesians will play seven friendlies in China and three more in Hong Kong to warm up for the SEA Games.

The Indonesian men's and women's basketball teams are both eying silver at the biennial event. As part of their ambitious goal, the Indonesian Basketball Association has hired a Chinese coach, Wang Chang-yu, who also coached the women's team at the 1997 Games, where they won bronze. (ivy)