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Nelson guard Jelena Vucinic again paced the New Zealand women, but they were unable to defend a slim halftime lead on Day Three at the Australian U20 state championships at Gawler, South Australia.

The Kiwis held a one-point advantage midway through their encounter with West Australia, but eventually lost 53-71. They went scoreless for 7m 44s of the third period as their rivals rattled off 17 unanswered points to seize control of the game.

The NZ women held their own around the boards, but committed 25 turnovers and could not convert their opportunities (28% FG).

Vucinic, who keyed their victory over Tasmania the previous night, led all scorers with 17 points (7/23 FG, 3/13 3pt), seven rebounds and three assists.

New Zealand are now 1-2 for the tournament and face Queensland (1-3) on Wednesday.

Australian U20 State Championships

Gawler, South Australia
Tuesday, February 23
Women
West Australia 71 (Antonio Ebony 13, Shani Amos 11, Jasmine Hooper 11) New Zealand 53 (Jelena Vucinic 17, Ashleigh Poto 13, Bella McCallum 11)
Q1 15-13
HT 30-31 (15-18)
Q3 50-38 (20-7)
FT 71-53 (21-15)