Unified Korean team reaches women's basketball semis

The unified Korean women's basketball team reached the semifinals of the 18th Asian Games on Sunday with an easy victory over Thailand. Korea blew out Thailand 106-63 in the quarterfinals at GBK Basketball Hall, led by 20 points from forward Kang Lee-Seul (180-F-94) off the bench. In Thursday's semifinals, Korea will meet Chinese Taipei, which knocked out Mongolia 76-59 in its quarterfinals match earlier Sunday. Chinese Taipei defeated Korea 87-85 in overtime during the preliminary round on Aug. 17. South Korea is the defending champion, while North Korea has never won a medal in women's basketball. There are nine South Koreans and three North Koreans on the roster. But one South Korean, Ji-Su Park (195-C-98) of the Las Vegas Aces in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), only arrived in Jakarta late Saturday after completing her rookie WNBA season and sat out Sunday's game. The 196-centimeter center is expected to be ready for Thursday. Korea jumped out to a 16-2 lead over the first five minutes of the game and closed out the opening frame up 28-11. Head coach Lee Moon-kyu rested his entire starting lineup in the second quarter, and the reserves kept attacking the helpless Thai defense. Kang scored 14 points in the second quarter on 4-of-6 shooting from downtown, giving South Korea a 60-19 first-half lead. The starters returned to action to begin the second half, but Thailand outscored South Korea 18-16 in the quarter -- not nearly enough to turn the tide. Korean reserves finished off Thailand with a 30-26 fourth quarter, Captain Lim Yung-hui and guard Ha-Na Park (177-G-90) each scored 18 points. The team shot 17-of-36 from three-point range. Starting point guard Park Ji-hyun was the only Korean player not to score, but she had a game-high eight assists.
Courtesy of: yonhapnews.co.kr