"We didn't restrain opponents quite well in the second half, giving them too many chances of coming back into contention," admitted Shao.

"They made much progress compared with that team at the Rio Olympics two years ago in ball pass, fast breaks and moves inside the paint field," she added.

Senegal came as close as two points when Bintou Dieme made a layup with 1:25 from time, but China steadied firm through Sun Mengran's layup and a pair of free throws from Wang Siyu. Li Meng sealed China's victory with her three-pointer on target with seven seconds remaining.

Senegal's Astou Traore finished a game-high 21 points, added by Yacine Diop's 13 and Sy-Diop's 12.

"No matter who we face next, we will stick to our level of play, fully unleash everybody's potential and not leave pity to ourselves," said China's head coach Xu Limin.

The United States, who have secured a top place with consecutive victories over Senegal and China, will play Latvia later on Tuesday.

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