(LEAD) (Asian Games) Unified Korean team suffers 1st loss in women's basketball
(ATTN: ADDS details throughout, photo)
By Yoo Jee-ho
JAKARTA, Aug. 17 (Yonhap) -- The unified Korea women's basketball team suffered its first loss at the Asian Games on Friday, falling to Chinese Taipei 87-85 in overtime.
Korea rallied from a 71-65 deficit with 3:22 remaining in the fourth quarter to force the extra session in Group X play at GBK Basketball Hall, thanks to Kim Han-byul's desperate putback with 6.2 ticks to go. Kim was fouled on the shot but failed to convert the ensuing free throw to complete the three-point play.
Chinese Taipei made five of its first six field goal attempts in overtime and held on for the nail-biting win.
Korea had a chance to force another overtime or win outright in the dying seconds, but Park Hye-jin threw up an air ball from behind the arc as time ran out.
Ro Suk-yong, one of three North Korean players on the joint team, led all players with 32 points on 12-of-17 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds. Kim had 26 points, though the missed free throw at the end of regulation loomed large.
Korea went only 2-of-27 from downtown, most of them open looks.
Korea, which opened the tournament with a 108-40 victory over Indonesia on Wednesday, is now 1-1 after two games. It will next face India on Monday and then Kazakhstan the following day to close out the preliminary round. All games will be at GBK Basketball Hall.
There are two groups of five, and the top four nations from each group will advance to the quarterfinals. Group Y teams are Japan, China, Thailand, Hong Kong and Mongolia.
South Korea is the defending champion in women's basketball, but North Korea has never won an Asian Games medal in the event.
This was the same Chinese Taipei team that defeated South Korea 76-60 at the William Jones Cup tournament in New Taipei City last month.
Korea led 23-21 after a back-and-forth first quarter, with two North Koreans, guard Jang Mi-gyong and center Ro Suk-yong, in the starting lineup.
Korea held a 10-5 lead with six minutes remaining, when Bao Hsile, a 196-centimeter Taiwanese center and the tallest player on either team, was sent to the bench with two early fouls.
But Chinese Taipei went on a 9-2 scoring run while Korea missed some easy shots.
Ro stepped up in late moments, with a steal at half court and a layup on one end, and then a key block on Chinese Taipei's final shot attempt of the first quarter.
Chinese Taipei put on a shooting clinic to open the second quarter, taking a 38-27 lead after a 17-4 scoring run.
Korea responded with a mini-run of its own, thanks to some good ball movement on offense and pressure on defense. Korea scored the final seven points of the second quarter and was only down 43-40, with Jang running the efficient attack.
There were six lead changes in the third quarter. Korea went up 52-51 with 4:06 left after Ro's layup, but Ro picked up her fourth foul on the next possession and had to sit out the rest of the quarter.
Losing the most versatile offensive player was a blow for Korea, which entered the final frame down 59-58.
Korea scored the first five points of the fourth quarter for a 63-59 lead, but after Chinese Taipei rallied to go up 64-63, Korea never led again the rest of the game.
Korea was down 71-65 with a little over three minutes left, and then pulled to a 71-71 tie with 28.7 seconds remaining thanks to buckets by Ro and Kim.
After Cheng Ihsiu made two free throws to put Chinese Taipei up 73-71, Kim grabbed an offensive rebound after Park Hye-jin's missed layup and got fouled as she scored in the dying seconds.
Chinese Taipei called a timeout to ice Kim, who missed from the stripe to send the game into overtime.
Chinese Taipei was on fire from the field to start the extra frame and led 84-79 with 2:25 remaining.
Ro scored on some pretty moves in the paint to bring Korea to 84-83. The teams traded buckets before Peng Szuchin made one of her two late free throws to seal the deal.
There are nine South Koreans and three North Koreans on the joint roster. But one South Korean player, Park Ji-su of the Las Vegas Aces in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), has yet to join the team. The WNBA's regular season is winding down, and the Aces are fighting for a playoff spot with two games remaining.
Should the Aces make the playoffs, which begin next week, it's unlikely Park will report to the national team here.
jeeho@yna.co.kr
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