Basketball New Zealand

Lisa Wallbutton (Photosport)

All eyes may be on Turkey, but the NZ Tall Ferns have set the bar high for their male counterparts with a 77-74 upset win over Japan in Sapporo.

Just hours before the NZ Tall Blacks open their FIBA World Championship for Men schedule against Lithuania in Izmir, the Ferns beat them to the punch, toppling a Japanese outfit preparing for the women’s world tournament in October.

After trailing by as many as 19 points midway through the third quarter, New Zealand came back strongly and finally snatched a decisive lead off a three-pointer from Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe with little more than a minute remaining.

In his debut as an international head coach, Kennedy Hamilton-Kereama put the result down to tremendous execution, particularly on the defensive end. The speedy Japanese are always likely to trouble opponents on the run and that was the key to their initial success.

“Our defensive transition in the first half was fairly average,” admitted Hamilton-Kereama. “But we definitely picked it up and forcing them to compete in the half-court game really played to our advantage.”

The Tall Ferns held their own through the opening quarter and held a 26-25 early in the second, before their hosts went on a 16-2 run that seemed to take seize of the contest.

Japan, ranked one spot ahead of New Zealand (15th) on FIBA women’s rankings, were 43-30 up at the break and extended that advantage further soon after the restart. But the Ferns rallied, rattling off 12 consecutive points to close within six entering the final period.

They continued to eat away at the margin, until finally drawing level at 63-63 with 5m 58s left. The Japanese leapt clear with a trey, but the Kiwis clawed their way back in front with two minutes on the clock and went up for good off McMeeken-Ruscoe’s long distance strike.

While the veteran produced the final heroics, Hamilton-Kereama highlighted the spread of contribution across his roster, starting with forward Lisa Wallbutton’s 21 points/14 rebounds (eight OR).

“That was just a fantastic effort … and most of those offensive boards weren’t even off her own shots!”

Guard Noni Wharemate also proved a handful for her markers with 15 points (7/11 FG, 1/2 FT), while Jillian Harmon overcame a cold shooting performance (3/11 FG) with 11 rebounds, seven assists, two blocks and a steal.

The coach also had praise for rookie point guard Jordan Hunter.

“A theme of this tour is contributions and Jordan really typified that tonight,” said Hamilton Kereama. “She came on and was unbelievably poised, had no turnovers, got us into our stuff and handled one of Asia’s best guards in Yuko Oga.”

Turnovers certainly troubled the Ferns in the first half, but they were far safer in possession over the final stages. They held an edge around the boards throughout the game and also enjoyed some charity from the referees through regular visits to the free throw line.

Japan have already had several international fixtures this year and should have had more cohesion than the NZ women, who have been together less than a week. This first outing probably loomed as an opportunity to set a benchmark for improvement over the rest of the three-game series.

Now, the Ferns are in unfamiliar and probably unexpected territory.

“It’s probably a dangerous thing to win the first game,” concedes Hamilton-Kereama. “It sets a high standard and creates expectation, but I do expect us to improve over the course of the tour.”

The two teams square off again in Sendai on Sunday and New Zealand must try to seal the series without Wharemate or centre Karlene Kingi, who will sit out for religious reasons.

Tall Ferns v Japan

Game One – Sapporo

Saturday, August 28
NZ Tall Ferns 77 (Lisa Wallbutton 21, Noni Wharemate 15, Suzie Bates 12, Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe 10) Japan 74
Q1 22-23
HT 30-43 (8-20)
Q3 53-59 (23-16)
FT 77-74 (24-15)
NZ v Japan box score (html 66kb)