Li Meng (L) of China attempts to shoot under the defense of Breanna Stewart of the United States during a Group A match at the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2022 in Sydney, Australia, Sept 24, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]

China's Li Meng goes on the attack as Kahleah Copper of the US defends during their Women's Basketball World Cup Group A game in Sydney on Saturday. AFP

China’s Li Meng (No 9) goes up for a shot during the Group A fixtures of the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup in Sydney, Australia, September 26, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]

China's Li Meng goes for a layup as Belgium's Kyara Linskens defends during their FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup game in Sydney on Tuesday. Li scored a game-high 16 points as China won 81-55.

A gutsy Team China performance forced the United States to dig deep for victory in a highly entertaining FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup game in Sydney on Saturday.

Roared on by a big pro-Chinese crowd of roughly 9,400 fans, the world's best team found it difficult to shake off a tenacious Team China who battled bravely until the final buzzer.

The relatively young Chinese squad, with an average age of 25.5 years old, tied the game at 13-13 before finishing the first quarter trailing 18-13. The US surged to a 44-25 halftime lead but China reduced the gap to 56-47 by the end of the third before eventually losing 77-63.

Li Meng, who scored a game-high 21 points including three 3-pointers, had every right to be proud of the Chinese team's effort.

"We enjoyed the whole process and cherished this opportunity to play head-to-head with the United States, which allowed us to learn a lot from the world's best team," said Li.

Written by Zhang Dan.