March 23, 2019

The championship came down to one game in Guangdong on Saturday.  The hosts knew that building a lead was key and they did so in the third quarter before the rules disadvantage came into play, winning 97-81 as Huang Sijing stepped up alongside their usual frontcourt pairing of Nneka Ogwumike and Li Yueru.  Bayi was close to the title after the merger that created their superteam, but they met their match against another team that had enough key domestic players to prevent them from running away with games late.

Guangdong vs. Bayi 97-81 GD Ogwumike 29/11r/7a Huang 22/9r Li 22/9r Yang 13/6a 81 Sun 18/12r Pan 15 Lu 12/6r Li 12

Guangdong wins series 3-2

March 20, 2019

The series continued on Friday with Bayi trying to force another game and Guangdong looking to win the title.  The visitors started well, but the hosts controlled the middle quarters for a 94-90 win.  Just like the last game, a surprise hero emerged as Bayi called on Liu Shuai to chip in alongside Li Meng and Sun Mengran.  Nneka Ogwumike and Li Yueru led a dominant performance in the post again for Guangdong, but did not get as much backcourt help.  They will now host the deciding game on Saturday, a fitting end to a great season for both teams.

Bayi vs. Guangdong 94-90 81 Li 30/11a Sun 22/9r Liu 21/6a GD Ogwumike 34/13r Li 25/9r Yang 10/6a

Series tied 2-2

March 18, 2019

The series continued on Monday in Nanchang.  Hosts Bayi got their backcourt of Jin Jiabao and Li Meng firing, but Guangdong showed they could match their opponents over the course of the entire game, getting surprise contributions from Zhang Dongxia to win 98-91.  Bayi now needs to win on Wednesday to extend the series while Guangdong will hope to take care of business and avoid a deciding game.

Bayi vs. Guangdong 91-98 81 Jin 28/7r Li 28/9a Sun 16/7r GD Zhang 22 Li 19/11r Huang 15/10r Ogwumike 14/6r Shen 14

Guangdong leads series 2-1

March 15, 2019

The championship series continued in Guangdong on Friday.  Bayi was determined not to let the hosts put away the game early this time and Li Meng was brilliant.  Sun Mengran helped the visitors offset the post dominance of Nneka Ogwumike and Li Yueru and they were able to build a lead before the final frame and tie the series with a 93-89 win.  The result means that a fourth game will be needed and Bayi will host the next two in Nanchang on Monday and Wednesday.

Guangdong vs. Bayi 89-93 GD Ogwumike 29/14r Li 21/14r Huang 13/6r 81 Li 33/8r/8a Sun 23/10r Gu 16

Series tied 1-1

March 13, 2019

The finals started on Wednesday as Guangdong looked to start fast both in the series as they host the first two games and in the game as they knew that the rules would favor Bayi in a close game late.  Nneka Ogwumike was critical early and Li Yueru helped the hosts with their advantage in the paint, building up a big enough margin that the visitors could not recover, falling 89-63.  Guangdong will also host the next game on Friday and will be looking to follow the same blueprint for success.

Guangdong vs. Bayi 89-63 GD Ogwumike 24 Li 23/17r Yang 13 81 Li 17/6a Pan 12/7r

March 4, 2019

Both series continued on Monday with the home teams trying to extend their seasons.  Tina Charles had one more big game for Beijing, but it was not enough to prevent the sweep as Guangdong left with a 74-71 win.  Jiangsu relied on Bernice Mosby for more scoring than usual knowing that they would only have her for the first three quarters, but their chances started to slip away in the second half and Wang Xuemeng and Sun Mengran helped Bayi establish control to win 102-80.  The top two teams all season long will meet in the finals starting next week.  Bayi’s depth will help them, especially when the rules are in their favor, but Guangdong has been practicing for this scenario all season, developing their own domestic core for crunch time as they will also have homecourt advantage.

Beijing vs. Guangdong 71-74 BJ Charles 36/14r Shi 14 Shao 10/8r GD Huang 16 Li 13/8r Shen 12/7r Zhang 11

Guangdong wins series 3-0

Jiangsu vs. Bayi 80-102 JS Mosby 24 Chen 18/6a Xu 14/12r 81 Wang 29/6r Sun 20 Li 18/6a Zhang 12/11r

Bayi wins series 3-0

March 1, 2019

Both series continued on Friday.  After an even first half, Nneka Ogwumike and Guangdong seized control of the game, keeping Shao Ting and Beijing from getting back into the game with a 96-82 final margin.  Xu Chenyan and Jiangsu actually came back while the rules were not in their favor, forcing overtime, but Bayi’s inside-outside duo of Sun Mengran and Li Meng proved to be too much in the end in a 90-83 win.  Both lower seeds now must win at home starting Monday to extend their seasons.

Guangdong vs. Beijing 96-82 GD Ogwumike 21/14r/6a Yang 19/8a Li 16/10r Huang 13/6r Dilana 11 Shen 10/8a BJ Shao 20 Yang 16 Shi 15 Charles 11/6r

Guandong leads series 2-0

Bayi vs. Jiangsu 90-83(OT) 81 Li 40/7a Sun 22/8r/6s JS Xu 31/9r Mosby 11/11r Chen 10/6r/7a

Bayi leads series 2-0

February 27, 2019

After time off for all teams, both series started on Wednesday.  After a tremendous regular season, Guangdong still had some questions to answer about how they would handle the other top teams in the playoffs.  They took care of business in the first game, getting a great all-around game from Nneka Ogwumike to offset another impressive performance from Tina Charles and the re-emergence of Shao Ting to beat Beijing 88-77.  Bayi took a lead in the other series with a 76-66 win as Li Meng fired them past Jiangsu.  Both top seeds will be looking to hold serve at home on Friday while the visitors will be looking for splits before returning home.

Guangdong vs. Beijing 88-77 GD Ogwumike 24/16r/7a Yang 15/7a Huang 14/8r Shen 12/7a Li 11 BJ Charles 35/12r Shao 21

Bayi vs. Jiangsu 76-66 81 Li 29/7a Pan 13 Zhang 10/8r JS Xu 19/13r Mosby 19 Zhang 12/7a

February 20, 2019

Two series continued on Wednesday.  Jiangsu clinched their series on the road with a 71-57 win over Shandong, setting up a series with Bayi where their experience of playing well without expecting overwhelming production from the foreign player position will be tested.  Tina Charles carried Beijing again, avoiding a trip back to Xinjiang with an 87-79 win.  Han Xu led the visitors and gave the WNBA talent evaluators something to think about in her likely last competitive game before the draft.  Beijing will face top seeds Guandong next and will provide a tough test of whether regular season play carries over in the postseason against a more experienced team.  The best of five semifinals series will start in a week.

Shandong vs. Jiangsu 57-71 SD Bonner 14/6r Wang 11 JS Xu 19/9r Gong 17/8r Chen 13/8a Mosby 12

Jiangsu wins series 3-1

Beijing vs. Xinjiang 87-79 BJ Charles 30/12r Gao 16 Shi 15 Yang 10 XJ Han 24/8r Johnson 19/17r Wang 17/6r

Beijing wins series 3-1

February 18, 2019

All series continued on Monday with several teams looking for sweeps.  Nneka Ogwumike and Guangdong took care of business early with an 80-68 win over Wu Tongtong and Shanxi.  Jelena Dubljevic could not come up with enough heroics to extend Shanghai’s season as Bayi left with a 94-70 win.  DeWanna Bonner and Shandong took a lead early and staved off elimination with a 66-62 win over Jiangsu despite a great game from Xu Chenyan.  The one series that was tied became advantage Beijing after Tina Charles led the hosts past Xinjiang 75-64.  Two series will continue on Wednesday with Shandong fighting elimination again at home while Beijing looks to clinch without needing to take the long trip to Urumqi.

Shanxi vs. Guangdong 68-80 SN Wu 30/7a Guo 16 Paris 8/15r GD Ogwumike 20 Huang 16 Zhang 13 Li 12/6r Yang 11/9a

Guangdong wins series 3-0

Shanghai vs. Bayi 70-94 SH Dubljevic 29/11r Zhang 13/9r Zhou 13 81 Li 19 Pan 15 Jin 14/9r/9a Zhang 12 Gu 12

Bayi wins series 3-0

Shandong vs. Jiangsu 66-62 SD Bonner 23/14r Yang 13/12r Cao 10 JS Xu 28/8r Chen 11/7r Jiang 10 Mosby 1/8r

Jiangsu leads series 2-1

Beijing vs. Xinjiang 75-64 BJ Charles 34/17r Shao 11/6r Gao 10 XJ Han 19/8r Wang 19 Johnson 18

Beijing leads series 2-1