The Cuban women’s national basketball team debuted at the 15th World Championships

The Cuban women’s national basketball team debuted at the 15th World Championships Tuesday with a not very impressive win over Chinese Taipei 75-70, considered the weakest team in Group D of the tournament.

The Spanish news agency EFE said the game lacked a rhythm at the Jose Correa Gymnasium, sub-venue of Barueri, located 26 kilometers from Sao Paolo, Brazil.

"We played very poorly on defense. The first half we were lousy defensively. We allowed our rivals to pass and shoot. With a great effort in the second half we were able to turn the game around," Cuban coach Armando Acosta told EFE.

The Cubans came from 14 points down at halftime (47-33) led by Yamilet Boulet who scored a total of 36 points, nearly half of the team’s total production.

The game was not very pretty as both teams were nervous. The Cubans made 18 errors and committed 17 fouls while Taipei had 17 errors and 20 fouls, reported EFE.

On Wednesday, Armando Acosta’s Cuban team will face the European champions, the Czech Republic, dangerous for their height even if of late they are not at their peak play. On Tuesday they lost to France 62-58 in the other Group D game. The French team plays Chinese Taipei, third in the Asian championship, on Wednesday.

The biggest surprise in the opening games was Argentina, which made the Group A favorites Brazil suffer before falling 71-69. Argentina had a 40-32 halftime lead, raising doubts about the home team’s aspirations to win the tournament. Also in Group A, Spain walked over South Korea 87-57.

In Group B Australia won a forfeit against no-show Lithuania which had transportation problems, but should be on hand to face Canada on Wednesday and Senegal on Thursday.

Source: Granma