Cobwebs Cleared
Tagged in: Tall Ferns
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The NZ Tall Ferns havenít played together for more than 12 months, since the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games final Ö and thatís exactly how it seemed as they fell 71-88 to Japan in Chiba.
Less than 24 hours off the plane, the national womenís team seemed shell shocked as they quickly fell behind the world 15th-ranked teams on their home court. Down 17-29 after the opening quarter, the Kiwis were limited to just nine points in the second term before rallying over the second half.
ìWe virtually lost the game in the first quarter,î lamented Ferns coach Mike McHugh. ìIt looked like we hadnít played in a year.
ìItís disappointing, but not the end of the world.î
The Japanese women had passed through New Zealand on the way to Australia earlier this month, narrowly beating a northern all-star team, coached by McHugh and containing several Tall Ferns.
ìYou could see they had toughened up a lot since they were in New Zealand,î he said. ìThey were very physical – they just out-muscled us – and it took us half a game to adjust to being back at this level of play.
ìIn the second half, we were pretty good. We got a lot more assertive and applied some pressure defence.î
New Zealand outscored their hosts 45-36 over the final two quarters and, hopefully, can take that momentum into tomorrowís second of three tests.
Huge centre Kumiko Yamada and guard Ryoko Utsumi at 12 points each to lead a very balanced Japanese offence that shoot 14/22 (63.6%) from the arc.
Point guard Angela Marino was the highest scoring Kiwi with 16 points and six assists, while centre Jess McCormack battled inside for 15 points/11 rebounds. The Tall Ferns are without their two most experienced players – Olympians Donna Loffhagen and Aneka Kerr – on this tour and lost forward Charmian Purcell early in the game with a knee injury.
NZ Tall Ferns in Japan
Monday, May 21
Chiba (First Test)
Japan 88 (Kumiko Yamada 12, Ryoko Utsumi 12) NZ Tall Ferns 71 (Angela Marino 16, Jess McCormack 15, Micaela Cocks 12, Noni Wharemate 11)
