KL2017 women's basketball: Malaysia whip Vietnam 88-54

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian women's basketball team started their SEA Games campaign by whipping Vietnam 88-54 at the Maba Stadium here today.
Malaysia, who are 13-time champions and defending the title, started confidently to lead 23–15 in the first quarter, before doubling up the score to 44–28 in the second quarter, despite having played without captain Nur Izzati Yaakob, who is down with the flu.
The girls continued their dominance in the last two quarters, with a 69–38 lead in the third quarter. They secured two points while Vietnam was left with one point.
Despite the heavy defeat, Vietnam's Trat Thi Nguyet Nga emerged as the top scorer with 19 points, while 24-year-old Chong Yin Yin of Malaysia was the darling of the Malaysian crowd, after scoring 17 points for Malaysia, with four three-pointers.
However, national coach Sze Yuin Yoong was not satisfied with her charges saying the cagers were not aggressive enough in defence.
"I think the girls felt very relaxed because it is their first match, so the defence was not solid enough. We must solve this problem immediately because other teams, especially Indonesia and the Philippines will play very aggressively," she told reporters after the match.
Malaysia will next face Singapore tomorrow, followed by 2015 silver medallists Indonesia on Tuesday, the Philippines on Thursday, Myanmar on Friday and end their SEA Games preliminary campaign against Thailand on Saturday.
Earlier, Indonesia had thrashed Myanmar 94–49.
Based on the tournament format, each team will play six matches where two points will be awarded for a win and one point to the losing team.
The table topper will be the gold medallist, while the silver and bronze medal goes to second and third finishers. — Bernama