Ferns Bounce Back
Tagged in: Tall Ferns
Stung by their heavy loss to the host team two days ago, the NZ Tall Ferns have regrouped to take a moral victory over the world’s top-ranked women’s basketball power - the United States - at the Good Luck Beijing tournament in China.
Down by 26 points at halftime and facing the prospect of another mauling, the plucky Kiwis actually outscored their much bigger and more athletic rivals in the second half to finish 60-78, holding them to just eight points over the final quarter.
“I was delighted with our peformance, to tell the truth,” said coach Mike McHugh. “To get under 20 against the Olympic champions with a team of this level of experience was a very, very satisfying performance.
“To keep them to eight in the fourth quarter was phenomenal.”
Last time these two nations met, New Zealand suffered a 52-point pounding in their opening game of the 2004 Athens Olympics and the Americans went on to take the gold medals.
This time, the Ferns started strongly to trail by just six after the opening period, but fell away alarmingly as the US piled on 11 unanswered points before halftime.
“They just monstered us in the second quarter and we never got a call from the refs,” lamented McHugh. “But we chipped away in the third and certainly played well in the last quarter.
“Full credit the players and their attitude. Kiwis are not intimidated by anyone and that’s what you have to have at this level.”
The Americans were just too strong around the hoop, outscoring their smaller rivals 38-12 in the paint. They gained rebounding parity with the Ferns under their own basket, grabbing 21 offensive rebounds and enjoying a 10-0 advantage in second chance points.
All the NZ “bigs” were in foul trouble as they tried to contain a US frontcourt that included WNBA legend Lisa Leslie.
At the other end, the Kiwis managed just 26% FG and had eight shots rejected.
But they committed only 10 turnovers, a great result against such highly ranked opponents, and actually forced the Americans into more errors.
Captain Aneka Kerr and point guard Angela Marino - the only two Tall Fern survivors from the Athens encounter - led their team in scoring. Kerr had 17 points (5/12 FG, 7/7 FT) and seven rebounds, while Marino accumulated 14 points (3/13 FG, 8/8 FT), seven rebounds and three assists.
As a team, the Ferns converted 24/27 (89%) from the charity stripe.
After their 73-99 loss to China, the Kiwi women had planned to sample Beijing’s shopping opportunities on their rest day, but were held back for a three-hour video session first as McHugh sought to stamp out any deterioration in the play.
“They mightn’t have been too happy with me at the time, but when you get a performance like tonight, it’s testiment we did the right thing.”
New Zealand now face world champions Australia in their final round robin game.
Good Luck Beijing
Beijing, China
Wednesday, April 23
United States 78 (Sylvia Fowles 14, Katie Smith 10) NZ Tall Ferns 60 (Aneka Kerr 17, Angela Marino 14)
Q 20-14
HT 48-22 (28-8)
3Q 70-41 (22-19)
FT 78-60 (8-19)
