CHENGDU, China, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Jiangsu got off to a flying start in the 2020-21 Women's Chinese Basketball Association (WCBA) league by romping past last season's top-ranked side Beijing 85-68 here on Thursday.

Last season's WCBA league saw an earlier conclusion than originally scheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning this season's first round matches ended a nine-month WCBA drought.

Jiangsu saw five players score in double figures, led by Jiang Jiayin's 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Liang Jiamei and Gong Li scored 14 points apiece.

Furthermore, Jiangsu notched 11 three-pointers compared with Beijing's five, but despite their win, Jiangsu coach Ding Tie still saw room for improvement.

"We took Beijing as the champions and prepared well for this match. We didn't play a game for a long time. Our ball transition and offensive rhythm were not good enough," said Ding.

Liang started Jiangsu's attack with a three-pointer, followed by Xu Chenyan's second-chance basket, and Jiangsu began to take charge of the game midway through the first quarter.

With Beijing's national team duo of Shao Ting and Gao Song having left the club for Sichuan, Qi Yu stepped up by contributing a game-high 19 points, including seven in the opening period.

"In terms of the process, we have too much to improve on," rued Beijing coach Zhang Yunsong.

"We have seen a lot of changes this season. It's a new start for us. We face much difficulty and have to adjust both tactically and mentally. We are in a period of turbulence, and many young players need to shoulder more responsibilities."

Coming off the bench, former international Chen Xiaojia powered Jiangsu's offense through consecutive baskets as Jiangsu went up 23-18 at the end of the first quarter.

Jiangsu registered three-pointer shooting efficiency, with Gong and Liang draining shots beyond the arc on successive possessions to set up a 17-point advantage into half-time.

Chen's three-pointer extended Jiangsu's lead to 20 points early in the third quarter. Beijing never came closer than 15 points afterwards.

Shi Xiufeng and Ma Yina each contributed 14 points for Beijing.

"We didn't put on good defense in the first half, and failed to execute some details that the coach had laid out before the match, thus leading to some mistakes on the defensive end," lamented Shi.

Jiangsu will next face Tianjin on Monday, and Beijing square off against Daqing on Sunday. Enditem

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