The game continues.
China's high-intensity interior defense lineup is showing some effectiveness.
However, Liu Min and Zhang Fan were both seriously injured in the accident.
Team USA's Ida dribbled forward and rushed into the paint, but Zhang Fan immediately blocked Ida's layup path.
Zhang Fan's tight defense forced Gesi, who couldn't stand it any longer, to accelerate and run two steps to break through Zhang Fan's defense, who was standing still.
"Swoosh—"
The whistle blew.
The referee finally blew his whistle and called an offensive foul on Gesi, giving possession back to the Chinese team.
Luo Yan, Liu Min, and Zhang Fan, the inside players, gritted their teeth and withstood the strong inside penetration of the American team.
However, the Chinese team lacked offensive power and could only score points by Lu Yu's mid-range shots and Weng Pei's long-range shots.
There are 20 seconds left in the second quarter.
Gesi was penalized five times, and the Chinese team trailed the American team by 11 points.
This is a pretty good result, at least it's not far from what Zeng Ling expected.
The ball possession cycle returned to the Chinese team.
Lu Yu dribbled the ball and ran with lightning speed. Facing Kai's defense, Lu Yu quickly faked out Kai with a perfect butterfly step and cut into the three-point line in two steps.
Philly, who was not far away, immediately blocked Lu Yu's path of attack.
Just before Philly attempted to steal the ball, Lu Yu reacted quickly, passing the ball behind his back to Ongpe outside the three-point line.
Weng Pei stretched out his long arm, retrieved the basketball, and immediately jumped to shoot.
Lu Yu sidestepped to block Philly, who was trying to get back to defend Ongpe.
Unexpectedly, Phil had already adapted to Lu Yu's running rhythm. The moment Lu Yu passed the ball, he immediately stepped back, ran back to Ongpe, jumped up powerfully, and stretched his arms high.
When Onpe spotted Philly's jump defense, the basketball in her hand was about to be released, and she had no time to pull the ball back. She could only force her way through the shot.
Weng Pei's calf straightened instantly, and his arm straightened and raised again. When the basketball was released, the angle and speed were slightly off.
Watching the basketball fly in an arc, Weng Pei gritted her teeth in frustration.
really--
"Bang!"
The basketball hit the backboard and bounced out.
The battle for the rebound was about to erupt.
Liu Min, Luo Yan, Ista, and Gesi jumped almost simultaneously under the basket.
Ista, with his size advantage, completely blocked Luo Yan's chance to put the ball in.
Liu Min was the first to touch a basketball.
Liu Min grabbed the rebound.
Just as she was about to pass the ball to the outside, the numbers on the timer stung her eyes.
With only 3 seconds left, passing the ball to the outside would definitely not allow enough time to reorganize the attack.
At that moment, a flood of images rushed into her mind.
Zeng Ling argued with the referee team until they were red in the face; Ji Yun wanted to punch Gesi to the ground for her teammate; and Chu Feiyu brought her beef jerky and fruit from the cafeteria every night with a smile.
In just a moment, so many images flashed by.
Zeng Ling's instructions were to keep the point difference within 10 points, or to force Gesi to foul out in the second quarter. He essentially failed to achieve either...
But they were all just a little bit off, just that little bit...
Liu Min disregarded Zeng Ling's advice not to attempt layups in the restricted area.
She decided to take a risk, just this once!
After retrieving the basketball, Liu Min jumped high into the air without hesitation—
She's going for a layup!
Just as the basketball slipped from his hands—
A powerful elbow strike landed on her lower abdomen.
Liu Min was knocked to the ground. She straightened her abdomen to relieve the waves of muscle cramps, but she was already overjoyed inside.
The basketball, which had just left the hand, spun around the edge of the rim before falling into the basket.
With a "clang," the basketball went into the basket, a symbol of Liu Min's victory.
"Whoosh—" The whistle rang out.
Liu Min was still lying on the ground, curled up in a ball.
In fact, most of the force of her fall had been dissipated, but she still had to pretend, at least to some extent, to influence whether the referee would blow the whistle and make a ruling.
Liu Min rolled on the ground, clutching her stomach.
The footage switched to a slow-motion replay of the moment Liu Min was hit.
When Liu Min went for a layup, Gesi had just landed and didn't even have time to complete the full jump and collision motion. The hot-tempered Gesi actually turned sideways and bent his elbow to knock Liu Min down.
An indisputable defensive foul.
This time, Geshe didn't jump at all; instead, he simply and directly rammed into the man.
In addition to scoring 2 points with a layup, Liu Min also got a free throw opportunity.
Luo Yan and Zhang Fan ran over and knelt down to check Liu Min's injuries. Liu Min nestled in Luo Yan's arms, carefully winking at Zhang Fan and whispering that she was fine.
Liu Min caught her breath, was helped up by Lu Yu and Weng Pei, patted her bottom, and watched Gesi leave the field with a smile before standing at the penalty spot.
Stand still.
Arms bent, toes raised. Left hand holding the ball, right hand pushing.
The basketball was pushed away from the palm—
"Thump—"
"Goal!" Liu Du shouted.
Meng Xiaotong excitedly announced the score, "At the end of the second quarter, the score between the Chinese team and the American team is 43 to 51, only 8 points apart. The women's basketball team gritted their teeth and held on."
"Gesi fouled out after committing six fouls." Feng Xu finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Luo Yan, Liu Min, and Zhang Fan performed flawlessly, managing to withstand the American team's strong inside penetration lineup."
During halftime, Zeng Ling rolled her eyes at Liu Min and said, "I'll settle the score with you after the game."
Liu Min looked at her upper arm, which was wrapped with an ice pack, and secretly stuck out her tongue.
The second half began, and the Chinese team once again fielded their full starting lineup, drawing even louder cheers from the stands.
American team's starting power forward Camio also returned to the court.
The first goal of the second half was scored by the United States.
Facing Lu Yu's close marking, Kai didn't dare to be careless. After crossing half the field, he quickly passed the ball to Phil after only a few steps.
Phil stood outside the three-point line, attempting to drive forward, but the moment he changed direction, his hand went empty.
Seeing an opportunity, Ong Pei stole the basketball from Philly and dribbled in the opposite direction, leaving everyone behind in an instant.
Weng Pei sprinted to the three-point line and immediately jumped.
That was the jump shot spot that Ong Pei was most familiar with.
The basketball traced a perfect parabola—
The three-pointer went in smoothly.
Weng Pei smiled confidently in front of the camera, raised an eyebrow at Chu Feiyu offstage, and then extended two fingers to touch her lips.
Chu Feiyu's expression suddenly changed as she watched from the sidelines. It was as if the words Weng Pei had said to her yesterday were echoing in her ears.
"If...we really can win the finals, date me. I won't put any pressure on you, you can just give it a try."
What was she thinking on the Olympic stage?
Chu Feiyu patted her face and continued to focus on the game.
The US team's counterattack remained swift, and their strong inside penetration continued to put considerable pressure on the Chinese team's defense.
Fortunately, the Chinese team's offensive scoring options gradually opened up, and the score gradually closed the gap.
At the end of the third quarter, the score was 68-70.
China trails the United States by 2 points.
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