THE SEOUL GAMES / DAY 9 : Women’s Basketball : Chinese Center Huge, but U.S. Wins, 94-79

If the U.S. women ever wondered what the Great Wall of China would look like as a woman, they found out Sunday when they took the tour.

Her name is Zheng Haixa, she’s 6-foot-8 and weighs 260 pounds.

Zheng has a ready smile and a fine touch but Sunday she also had a sore ankle, which limited her to occasional trips to the defensive end of the floor. She scored 32 points in her 30 minutes, but the United States held off a second-half rally and won, 94-79, to finish round-robin play in the women’s basketball competition 3-0.

“As for the big gal underneath, one thing is not to play behind her,” U.S. Coach Kay Yow said.

Play behind her? Anyone trying that wouldn’t have been seen for a week.

Zheng made 15 of her 20 shots. She hit a 17-footer. She rattled former Trojan Cynthia Cooper’s teeth with a pick.

“Oh, gosh, it was like hitting a building,” Cooper said. “I’ll tell you one thing, she didn’t budge at all. I fell off like a rag doll.

“She’s definitely a competitor. She scores when she wants to score.”

Zheng is 21 and comes from a village in Hunan province in central China. Her coach, Lu Chanxin, says her parents are average size.

The Americans fell behind, 8-5, but Katrina McClain--she had 27 points on 11 of 13 shots and took down 13 rebounds--led them back to a 21-14 lead, at which point they were toying with the Chinese.

Lu sent Zheng in. The U.S. lead grew to 10, but the Chinese cut it to 71-69 midway through the second half. The Americans scored the next 9 points--a 3-pointer by Suzie McConnell, a 15-footer by Bridgette Gordon, a steal and layup by Cal State Long Beach’s Cindy Brown, a short jumper by Brown--and the Chinese faded.

Zheng appeared in the interview room later, and smiled her way through the session.

Had the ankle hurt her?

“The Olympic spirit encourages me to play,” she said through an interpreter.

And the outcome?

“For the match, I think we did our best. The centers try hard, of course--including me. Although we lost the game, the spectators cheer for both teams. We are satisfied with the match.”

The spectators, mostly South Korean, were actually very pro-Chinese, except for a few Americans, including McConnell’s relatives from Pittsburgh, in their “Suzie” T-shirts.

What terror went through their hearts when McConnell, the pint-sized point guard from Penn State, found herself all alone, one on one with Zheng?

Zheng only passed off, or they might still be looking for the 5-4, 110-pound McConnell.

“What would you have done if she’d driven?” someone asked later.

“I’d have tried to take the charge,” McConnell said.

“Do you think you’d have lived to tell about it?”

“I don’t know,” she said, laughing. “I might have acted, more than taken it.”