Original title: Li Yueru completes WNBA debut, Chicago Sky team loses
Chinese women’s basketball player Li Yueru made her debut in the Women’s Professional Basketball League (WNBA) on the 28th local time. Her Chicago Sky team lost 76:83 to the Las Vegas Aces at home.
In this game, Li Yueru played 4 minutes and 25 seconds, shot 2 of 0, scored 2 points from the free throw, and also had 3 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block.
Li Yueru said frankly in a telephone interview with a reporter from Xinhua News Agency after the game that he was a little nervous when he first came on the court, which led to the vacancy and no shot. “But my idea is to do a good job in rebounding and defense first. At present, the running-in with the team is okay, and the coordination may not be skilled enough.” She said, “The confrontation is okay, and I don’t feel uncomfortable. Maybe I am biased. The type of confrontation, so I didn’t feel bad about that.”
After the first quarter, the Sky led by 1 point, but the Aces played 29:15 in the second quarter and ended the first half with a 51:38 lead. The Sky team failed to make a comeback in the second half, and the ace team won six consecutive victories. Aces center Wilson had 22 points and 16 rebounds.
Li Yueru set off for the United States on the 21st to represent the Chicago Sky team in this season’s WNBA league. In the 2019 WNBA draft, Li Yueru was selected by the Atlanta Dream Team with the 11th pick in the third round (35th overall). In February of this year, the Los Angeles Sparks acquired Li Yueru’s signing rights through a trade, and the signing rights have since been traded to the Chicago Sky.
Another Chinese female basketball player, Han Xu, who is playing in the WNBA, has played 4 games for the New York Liberty this season, averaging 10.8 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. (Reporters Su Bin and Li Bowen)