China's women's basketball team rallied to hold off Australia 64-59 on Thursday in the first game of a two-part warm-up series.

Miao Lijie was among the veterans sent on court after the start of the first quarter, part of Tom Maher's plan of rotating the line-up.

With the joint contributions of Miao Lijie and Chen Xiaoli, China surged to a 7-0 lead in the opening quarter. But a loose defense eclipsed their effort to widen the advantage, while the Aussies, thanks to an outstanding display of three-pointers, caught up and reversed the lead to 13-25 by the end of the period.

China put its strongest group of five on the court in the second quarter as the team strived to step up its offense and tighten its grip on rebounds. The home side rode home on a 32-30 lead before half time.

The two sides traded offensives in the third period but a lack of patience cost both of them opportunities to pull ahead.

China went on to a narrow 49-47 lead as the game entered the fourth quarter. Ren Lei sunk two free-throws at the four minute forty mark to help China to a 59-56 lead.

The visitors, Australia, lost their last chance to shorten the gap after failing to score two free-throws one minute before the final buzzer.

The second game will take place on Saturday.

(CRI.cn July 20, 2007)