The Chinese national women's basketball team finished off its North American tour on Friday, losing its last game 45-37 to Canada and collecting only one win out of six friendlies.

The last game, being playing in Abbotsford, about one hour east of Vancouver, was the rubber match of a three-game series as the hosts won the opening game 78-66 on Wednesday, before China bounced back to take Thursday's contest 67-51.

A sloppy first half on Friday saw both teams hit several rim shots and miss numerous baskets and three-point attempts as Canada led 11-10 following the first 10 minutes.

With China center Wei Wei registering three personal fouls in the opening half, veteran center Chen Nan came in off the bench for 18 minutes, registering six points in her first appearance of the Canada series.

With Canada leading 19-16 after a lackluster first half, the hosts doubled their output in the third quarter to go up 38-26 through 30 minutes. Kim Smith, the Canadian's top forward, returned from missing the last game with an injured finger to score 12 points, the highest among all shooters.

Guard Alisha Tatham was the only other player to hit double figures with 10 points, while center Chen Xiaoli led China with eight points.

"The competition tonight was fierce when both teams tried their best," said China coach Sun Fengwu. "Comparatively, the Canadians restricted our performances better than we did while our attacks were frustrated. Moreover, we struggled to get touches and our chances to hit the target also decreased. Today, Canada played better than we did."

Sun, who largely played his younger players throughout the Canada series, said regardless of the result the three games were helpful.

"The young players have made progress, but still not so mature and need to improve and work on their strengthening." Canada coach Allison McNeill praised China for coming to play as she described the difficulty of getting top teams to come to the vast country to face the national team. Despite the low-scoring and scrambly play, she felt the games where beneficial in preparation for the Olympic Games.

China, the world No. 7, has already secured a spot for the London Games as the FIBA Asia champion, while No. 11 Canada is preparing for the final Olympic qualification tournament starting June 25 in Turkey. The tournament features 12 nations and territories battling for the final five places for the Games.

"You know when you play the same (team) three times, and we did this in China too and it kind of got like this, is that you know each other, gets a tiny bit chippy because it' s like guarding your best friend for three days, you kind of know them inside and out. But yeah, it will be grinded out affairs there (in Turkey), physical for sure. I mean you' re going to clutch and grab and do whatever you can to get to the Olympics for sure."

McNeill added Canada's style of play was good for China as it's a bit of what they're going to experience at the Olympics. "You know we're physical and pretty tough, so I just think for both teams it was a great way for both of us to prepare. We get along well with China. We' ve been there and we' ve played them a lot and I think we know that we helped each other here."

Smith, a 28-year-old who currently plays for the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA, said the China series was just what the Canadian team needed in preparation for Turkey. The team will now have a break for two weeks before meeting up in Toronto June 1 for a two day training camp before heading to Europe for more friendlies. "Yeah, I mean we're feeling good and China's a great team," she said. "So for us to come away two and one from this series we're feeling good."

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