Miao Lijie made four free throws in the last minute and contributed 10 of her 22 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Shenbu Fuyuan over the Guangdong Jiahong 65-64 in game 5 of the best-of-five finals, winning their first championship of the Women's Chinese Basketball Association (WCBA) league on Tuesday .
"It's my dream and most desired target to win the WCBA title," said Miao, who was the key member of the Chinese national squad, which won the Asian championship several times and took fourth in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Miao, who had 25 points in each of the first four games in the final series, deserved to be selected as MVP of the Finals which will be announced later.
"I won the MVP six times in the regular season, but never got in the Finals because I had only reached Finals once," Miao said.
The 30-year-old Miao made two free throws with 1:13 minutes to play and cut the Shenbu's gap to one point for 63-64. After the Jiahong was forced to a turnover in the next possession, Miao was fouled again and completed the score with her last two free throws.
Gongdong, who reached the Finals for the second time after seven years' absence and ranked second with 17-5 in the regular season, had a chance to win the game but 1.97-meter center Huang Hongping missed her layup with six seconds left.
The title was also Shenbu's first in the 10-year-long WCBA after their two-time tries in 2002 and 2006. The team, who was 19-3 -- the best record during the 12-team regular season before sweeping each of its three postseason series, was joined by Miao, who transtered from Heilongjiang team last season when Miao and her new team were defeated by Henan in the semifinals last year.
Zhao Shuang scored 13 points for the balanced defense and offense as Shenbu overcame a 12-point lead with 4:55 minutes remaining in the second quarter by the opponent. <It was 35-all after the first half. But Guangdong took the advantage in the following plays supported by Swin Cash's 22 points and 13 rebounds, Cash, who won the WNBA title last year in her American club Seattle Storm, averaged 27 points and 11 rebounds in the last four games.
Siyue added 14 points for Guangdong, who outrebounded the Shenbu 36-26 but commited 18 turnovers, compared with the host team's 10.
