SYDNEY, June 27 (Xinhua) -- Favorites China and Australia moved closer to the semifinals of the FIBA Women's Basketball Asia Cup after recording powerful victories here on Tuesday.

China produced a defensive masterpiece in an 80-46 thrashing of New Zealand to remain unbeaten in the tournament, while Australia used their height advantage to crush Chinese Taipei 91-45.

New Zealand, buoyed by an upset win over 12-time Asia Cup winners South Korea on Monday, were suffocated by China's gritty defense in the third quarter and went scoreless for almost 7 minutes until a short hook by Stella Beck with 50 seconds left.

China's towering center Han Xu continued her strong form with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Li Meng and Pan Zhenqi each had 10 pointes for China. Grace Hunter (10 points) was the only New Zealand player to reach double figures.

"I think we always focus on teamwork and for today, we performed much better in terms of defense than our first game," Han said.

China are the only unbeaten team in Group A and a win over South Korea on Wednesday will secure them a spot in the semifinals.

"We know their style, they play really fast and have good shooters. But we'll be ready tomorrow," China coach Zheng Wei said about their clash with South Korea.

New Zealand head coach Guy Molloy made a trio of changes to his starting line-up, electing to rest leading scorer Penina Davidson and Tahlia Tupaea for the entire game in favor of Josie Trousdell (nee Stockill) and Esra McGoldrick - while also promoting Tayla Dalton off the bench.

China held the Kiwis to seven points in the second quarter on 25% shooting as the Chinese built up the score to 33-20 at the halftime.

China's defensive skills were on full display in the third quarter, rattling New Zealand with a Han steal leading to an open layup for Yang Liwei as the margin swelled to 20 points.

After a quiet start, Li Meng came alive with eight quick points as a tiring New Zealand resistance ended and China cruised to victory from there.

After a heart-breaking defeat against New Zealand, South Korea rebounded with a 76-54 victory over Lebanon.

They came out aggressively and scored the first 12 points to overwhelm Lebanon, who face a must-win game against New Zealand on Wednesday.

South Korea moved the ball well to create a slew of opportunities from three-point range, where they shot 14 of 45.

Jihyun Park hit four three-pointers and scored 18 points to lead South Korea, while Trinity Baptiste played a lone hand for Lebanon with 20 points and 12 rebounds.

In Group B, Australia came away with their second win of the Women's Asia Cup with dominant display against Chinese Taipei.

Australia will play Japan in a mouth-watering clash on Wednesday night with the winner to book a semi-final berth.

Five-time champions Japan continued their unbeaten record with a comfortable 95-57 victory over the Philippines.

Having easily beaten Chinese Taipei 94-53 in their opener, a confident Japan took control early to lead by 14 points after the first quarter.

Himawari Akaho paced Japan with 16 points, while Mai Yamamoto had 15 points.

"Australia has very good shooting skills and are very good in the paint area as well, so that's what we need to focus on tomorrow," said Japan coach Toru Onzuka looking ahead to their clash against Australia.

21-year-old Vanessa De Jesus, who plays for Duke University in the United States, tallied 12 points but struggled with her shooting against the miserly Japanese defence.

The Philippines and Chinese Taipei will meet in a must-win game for both teams on Wednesday. Enditem

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