Defending champions Liaoning had a good start for the 2011 new year by beating Bayi 72-67 in Saturday's match of Chinese Women's Basketball League (WCBA).

National team player Ma Zengyu contributed 24 points, three assists, four rebounds and two steals to help Liaoning seize their fourth straight victory. Teammate Zhang Wei added 21 points, six rebounds and four steals.

Bayi had 17 turnovers while Liaoning only had eight. Liaoning also had 13 steals while Bayi had only two.

The defending champions are 6-3 and improved themselves to the fourth place in the standings.

In other games, Jiangsu beat Heana 88-81, Yunan defeated Shanghai 81-65, Zhejiang ran over Beijing by 58-56, Shengyang Army thrashed Guangdong 83-77 and Fujian lost to Heilongjiang with 77-98.