Chinese import Han Xu has received a warm welcome in her first game for Geelong and put on a show against the Southside Melbourne Flyers after just two practice sessions.
The Venom comfortably won 74-69 in front of their largest ever crowd and sold-out MicroKeeper Arena on Saturday afternoon.
But angst riddled the Geelong team on the eve of the game with Bec Cole ruled out with a lower leg issue.
Adding insult to injury, Maddy Rocci - who had 33 points in the opening round - was pulled just hours before tip-off with a foot problem.
It was the debut of Chinese import Han Xu who supplemented the fractured list at the first jump ball.
The New York Liberty star is the second-tallest player in WNBA history and won Defensive Player of the Season last campaign with the Perth Lynx.
The 211cm centre towered over the 196cm Sakima Walker in the opening jump ball and made the tip-off look as easy as the opening basket she made 15 seconds later.
The Flyers' Hannah Hank set the tone when she made a driving layup at Xu, and forced the global star to concede her third foul halfway into the second quarter, forcing the Chinese superstar to the bench until the second half.
"(Hank) just competes every possession," coach Sam Mackinnon said.
"We put her on Han just to sort of be physical, and all game, she did a really good job of that, of limiting her impact around the basket.
"But it's hard to do for a full 40 minutes."
Xu was the focal point and it opened up space for Lilly Rotunno to dominate, Mackinnon added.
"She controlled the tempo, got after our guards and we didn't do a quick enough job of freeing up our guards to get into our stuff," he said.
Rotunno came in for Coles and also impressed Geelong coach Cheryl Chambers.
"How good for Lily to come out and and show she belongs in this league," Chambers said post game.
"Everyone had to step up. It was huge."
The Venom bit down late in the second term with a 13-0 run and the Flyers never made up the deficit.
Xu finished with 16 points and eight rebounds.
"I'd only practiced two times with this team with a little bit of practice (sic)," Xu remarked.
"But I never would have thought we would of played like that".
