Basketball New Zealand

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Shooter Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe left her scoring run until late, but responded with two of the biggest baskets of her career to present New Zealand with a 76-72 win over Mali in the opening round of pool games at the Beijing Olympics.

The Kiwi women led for most of the contest, but found themselves down by three points late in the fourth quarter before McMeeken-Ruscoe, scoreless to that point, struck with a three-pointer to tied the scores.

With 1m 12s showing on the clock, she struck again from the corner to give New Zealand a three-point edge that they defended to the final buzzer to keep their quarterfinal chances alive.

“Those shots were monsters for us,” reflected coach Mike McHugh. “The three-pointer is not Kate’s best shot … she’s much better coming off a screen for the two.
“But she had time and space, and had a good look at both of them.”
Mali put together the game’s first run – nine unanswered points – early in the opening period and threatened to run away with the game. But the Kiwis responded with an eight-point burst of their own and really seized the initiative with a 15-3 sweep into the halftime break.

The African champions answered immediately on the resumption and snatched the lead back midway through the third period, before New Zealand produced another 10-1 run to enter the final stanza six points ahead.

Mali connected with their only two treys of the game early in the fourth quarter to edge ahead once more, but McMeeken-Ruscoe, who had missed selection for the previous two Olympics, provided the final answer for victory.

“We put a lot of pressure on ourselves just to win,” said McHugh. “It’s much harder for us if we are the favourites than if we are underdogs and we always struggle against size.”

Against taller and more athletic opposition, the Tall Ferns turned the ball over 20 times and struggled to find a way inside the key, but were deadly (25/31) from the free throw line and enjoyed an advantage from long distance. They, in turn, forced the Africans into 26 turnovers and somehow snaffled 19 offensive rebounds to maintain pressure at the attack end.

“That had been our focus all week and that was where we won the game, right there,” said McHugh. “To break even with them in rebounding … it doesn’t always show up as a pretty part of the game, but if you can’t win the possesion stakes, you’re in trouble.”

Point guard Angela Marino led all scorers with 19 points, most from the charity stripe (11/12 FT), and four assists. Forward Lisa Wallbutton was particularly effective in the second quarter for 13 points (5/6 FG, 3/3 FT), while Jillian Harmon had 12 points/eight rebounds.

Forward Hamchetou Maiga, who plays for the Houston Comets in the WNBA, scored 18 points (8/15 FG, 2/4 FT) and grabbed seven rebounds for Mali.

New Zealand, ranked 16th in the world, will probably need at least one more win to secure a spot in the quarterfinals and face fifth-ranked Spain on Monday.

Saturday, August 9
New Zealand 76 (Angela Marino 19, Lisa Wallbutton 13, Jillian Harmon 12) Mali 72 (Hamchetou Maiga 18, Djenebou Sissoko 15)
Q 18-18
HT 42-33 (24-15)
3Q 60-54 (18-21)
FT 76-72 (16-18)