THE touring Fordham University team from New York, United States defeated the Fiji women's basketball team 51-41 in a friendly encounter at the multipurpose courts in Lautoka on Saturday.

The match served as a warm-up for the 2013 FIBA Pacific Championship in November.

Basketball Fiji development officer Laisiasa Puamau said the Fordham University players were on a yearly scholarship of $380,000.

He said they were part of the elite program. "This was great build-up for the regional championship in November," Puamau said. "Basketball Fiji will be sending a men's and women's team.

"Fordham University was on a three-week tour.

"They went to Australia first and then New Zealand and their last stop was Fiji. It was a good hit-out for our girls. "It is a great platform for us to work on. There are many areas to improve on. "We can certainly do better. We hope to go back to the drawing board and work on our mistakes."

"The players are undergoing three days training every week with court work.

"We have been challenging some club teams also. We have confidence in our program come the championship." The 2013 Pacific Championships will be held in Wellington from November 28 to December 4. Teams from Tahiti, New Caledonia, Samoa, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Guam and New Zealand will participate in the event.

The FIBA Oceania four yearly congress will be conducted during the championship where the board of FIBA Oceania for the 2014-2018 term will be elected.