Olympic silver medallists Australia won the title of the 2005 International Women's Basketball Tournament in Harbin on Saturday after an overtime 85-77 win over China.

The Asian champions, boosted by thundering applause and cheers from the audience, almost closed to their win with two seconds to go in the regular time, but only saw Australia's Erin Phillips scored two points to lead the game into overtime.

"We did have chance to win the game tonight, however, unfortunately, we did not grab them", said China coach Tom Maher, who thinks his team still needs to learn a lot if they want to become a real strong team in the future.

After Carly Wilson made two points in the critical period to tie the score at 72-72 in the overtime, Australia found their rhythm to break through China's defense system and to lead the game at 80-74 with 22 seconds to go.

A three pointer from Hollie Grima of Australia to sealed the win for the Olympic silver medallists and put them to the first place of the tournament.

Australia, who were shocked by Russia on Saturday in an overtime loss, began to find their pace in the second half, using solid defense to stop China's attacking and put ahead by 48-40 mid into the third quarter.

"We did a good job tonight, and the girls really concentrated on the games. Most importantly, they learn how to deal with the pressure when playing with the host," said Australian coach Jan Striling, who attributed their win to the mental strength of her team and vowed to beat China again next time.

Chen Nan led the hosts with 19 points and seven rebounds, while Ye Li contributed 18 points and seven rebounds, point guard Chen Xiaoyun added 12 points and five rebounds.

Australia's Carly Wilson and Hollie Grima made their team-high 22 points apiece, while veteran Jacinta Hamilton score 20 points and Erin Phillips added nine.

In the game played earlier, Cuba edged Russia 69-64 to take their first win and took the third place in the tournament.

Thanks to Peillon's team-high 16 points and Garcia's 13 points, Cuba beat the Olympic bronze medallists to take their consoling win in the tournament.

Cuba, who lost two consecutive games in the tournament, finally found their rhythm to shot 40 percent in the field, and committed 15-out-of-20 free-throws.

Russia's Elen Shakirovfa snatched down game-high 23 points, Tatiana Shchegol added 13 points and three rebounds, while Llona Korstin scored 10 points.

(Xinhua News Agency July 11, 2005)