BANGKOK (FIBA Asia Championship for Women/FIBA World Championship for Women) - Japan kept their unbeaten run alive at the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship for Women on Thursday and clinched top seed for the Semi-Finals by beating China, 62-55.
Looking to capture the title for the first time in 43 years, the Japanese led by as many as 15 points in the second half and won convincingly.
Tomohide Utsumi's side will take on Chinese Taipei in the Semi-Finals.
Chinese Taipei came in fourth, despite a 63-58 triumph over Korea in the last game of the evening.
Defeat for the Koreans left them tied with China and Chinese Taipei with 3-2 records.
A goal-differential tie-breaker has left China in second place in Level I, with Korea third and then Chinese Taipei.
The best and most intense game of the day was between Japan and China.
One of Japan's strengths in Bangkok has been their defense.
Their very active zone caused all sorts of problems for China, who turned the ball over 18 times.
Michiko Miyamoto, Asami Yoshida and Ramu Tokashiki each had three of Japan's 12 steals.
Japan scored 20 points off China's turnovers.
"We tried to stop them inside," said Japan point guard Yoshida.
"We played pretty good defense against their big players inside."
Tokashiki, Japan's dynamic 22-year-old center, underlined her status as the best player in the tournament by pouring in 20 points and corralling 12 rebounds.
China put the shackles on Miyamoto to prevent Japan's main perimeter threat from finding space to launch three-pointers.
She was just two of eight from the floor and one of six from the arc, yet Japan got an unexpected boost from Asako O.
The naturalized player from China played the entire second quarter and had a team-high nine points at the break.
"She tried to do her best and is improving in this tournament," Yoshida said.
"China know that I'm a three-point shooter and in the first couple of minutes, I couldn't play well," Miyamoto said.
"I tried to keep playing and concentrating on the defense and continued to run to make them work hard."
Yoshida has been terrific for the entire tournament.
The point guard's quickness causes a lot of problems.
"We can all run, the centers and everyone, so I try to push the ball and make us get out on the fast break," she said.
In Chinese Taipei's victory, Chen Yu-Chun came off the bench and was the only player to reach double digits in points with 13.
She and Wu Yi-Ting did most of the scoring in the last quarter, with each pouring in nine points.
They had a combined 18 of Chinese Taipei's 20 fourth-quarter points.
Kwak Joo-Yeong, who hit the game-winning shot at the buzzer against China on opening night, sprained her ankle in the first half and only 2:25.
Friday is an off day and it's unclear what her status is for Saturday's Semi-Final against China.
Japan, China, Korea and Chinese Taipei will battle to finish in the top three and claim the three qualifying places for the 2014 FIBA World Championship for Women in Turkey.
India claimed their first win of the tournament in a 65-62 overtime triumph against Kazakhstan.
Anastassiya Alishauskaite made two free-throws late in regulation to send the game to the extra period but India prevailed.
Anitha Paul Durai had 18 points for India.
In Level II, Malaysia began the day with a 63-41 victory over Uzbekistan.
Thailand won 70-59 over Hong Kong and Indonesia prevailed 60-54 over the Philippines.
Hosts Thailand finished first in Level II and will now take on Kazakhstan in a qualifying game.
Malaysia finished second in Level II and will take on India in the other qualifying game.
The winners of the qualifying encounters will play in Level I at the next FIBA Asia Championship.
In the Level II games, Malaysia handed the Philippines their first defeat, winning 60-56.
Uzbekistan prevailed 70-62 over Hong Kong and hosts Thailand clinched a 75-61 victory over Indonesia.
For full and in-depth coverage of the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship for Women, go to the official http://bangkok2013.fibaasia.net.
