DANDONG, China, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Sichuan prevailed 88-77 over Jiangsu in a highly-anticipated Group A duel in China's 15th National Games women's basketball qualifiers here on Tuesday.

Sichuan boasts a star-studded lineup which includes nine players with the experience of being selected in the national team's training camp, while a balanced Jiangsu team is tipped as the biggest threat to Sichuan in this group.

The two sides met in last year's National Women's Basketball Championship final, where Sichuan triumphed 69-54 to achieve a three-peat of titles.

Sichuan took the early initiative with a 14-0 run, while Jiangsu responded with eight straight points late in the first quarter to trim the deficit to four points at the quarter's end.

Jiangsu player-coach Chen Xiaojia buried two 3-pointers for eight points in the second quarter as Jiangsu pulled within one point at one stage, but Sichuan regrouped again to lead 49-38 at the intermission.

Chen sank another two 3-pointers to keep Jiangsu's hopes of a comeback but suffered a shoulder injury afterwards. A 12-0 surge fueled Sichuan to a 69-55 advantage entering the final frame, and they never looked back from there.

Li Meng contributed a game-high 27 points for Sichuan. Han Xu notched a double-double of 23 points and 11 rebounds, and Gao Song added 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Hubei pocketed its third straight win after powering past Shanxi 107-54, handing the opponent its third consecutive loss.

Hubei set the tone from the outset, scoring 17 unanswered points after the tip-off en route to a 25-9 lead as the first quarter ran out.

Shanxi linchpin Zhai Ruoyun was held to five points in the first half, as her side trailed by 38 points at halftime.

Hubei was not done in stretching its lead back from the locker room, with point guard Liu Bei leading the charge. Liu, who had been selected in the national team's training camp earlier this year, scored a game-high 20 points, level with her teammate Peng Huaqian.

"The experience of joining the national team's training camp helped raise my game and improve the variety of my skills, and I can build better chemistry with my team," Liu told Xinhua.

Speaking of Hubei's three-game winning streak, she added, "The coach told us to just fight game by game, and we executed it on every possession."

Also on Tuesday, six players scored in double figures as Shanghai registered a wire-to-wire 106-66 victory over Heilongjiang.

In Group B, Henan trounced Hebei 92-48, Zhejiang sailed past Tianjin 90-61, and Shandong outlasted Liaoning 78-71. ■