China denied Japan a sixth straight FIBA Women's Asia Cup basketball championship on Sunday, grinding out a 73-71 win in a final that went down to the wire at Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre.Center Han Xu led China with 26 points and 10 rebounds, while forward Maki Takada contributed a team-high 17 points for Japan.Japan led 35-26 at halftime before China took the momentum in the third quarter, outscoring the Tokyo Olympic silver medalist 22-16 for the period.With Japan trailing 66-60 and just over two minutes left in the game, guard Saki Hayashi brought the defending champions level by c…READ FULL ARTICLE