Basketball New Zealand

Women's Basketball Championship

The Taranaki Trojans were the surprise team on day one of the final Women’s Basketball Championship (WBC) tournament at Southwest Stadium in Wellington.

The Trojans handed the Harbour Breeze, winners of the North Harbour and Dunedin WBC tournaments, their first loss in 11 games this season with a 52-47 win on Thursday morning, then followed it with a 62-52 result against the Canterbury Wildcats.

“A very productive first day is how I’d describe it,” said Taranaki coach Trent Adam.

Taranaki have been the big movers since the first WBC tournament in June, the addition of Tall Ferns squad members Zoe Kensington and Natalie Moore, and national U21 rep Jordan Hunter to the mix of New Plymouth Girls High students helping.

“We finished eighth in the first tournament but if you look at that, we had a loss in overtime, a two-point and a four-point loss. So although the results weren’t there, we weren’t far off.

“We’ve really talked about our defensive systems and really worked on those. We held Harbour to 47 points and Canterbury to 52 points and let the offence sort of worry about itself. We really focused on defensive principles and working hard.”

Amber Bellringer top-scored with 13 points as the Trojans upset the Breeze in the tournament’s opening game, stretching away with a 16-9 third period. Former Tall Fern Charmian Purcell had 20 points for Harbour.

Kensington and Bellringer combined for 31 points as Taranaki raced out to a 14-point halftime lead against Canterbury, holding off Wildcats runs in the second half.

“We thought that you needed two wins to guarantee yourself a place in the semis and we’ve managed to do that on the first day,” Adam said. “Now it’s a matter of positioning ourselves for the semis but all the teams seem pretty tough so far.”

The Breeze, Otago Gold Rush and Wildcats sit at 1-1 in the championship section after day one, with crucial matchups on Friday likely to determine semifinal berths and positions.

Harbour defeated the Gold Rush 83-73, while Otago picked up a 54-47 win over the Waikato Wizards. Canterbury picked up their sole win with a 60-48 result over Waikato.

The Waikato Cougars were the only undefeated team to come out of the plate section on Thursday, beating the GABBA Gators 62-53 and Wellington Swish 92-89 after a late rally.

Women’s Basketball Championship

Wellington Tournament

Southwest Stadium, Wellington

Thursday, August 20

Championship Section

Taranaki Trojans 52 (Amber Bellringer 13, Zoe Kensington 10, Natalie Moore 10) Harbour Breeze 47 (Charmian Purcell 20)
1Q: 8-10
HT: 21-19 (13-9)
3Q: 37-28 (16-9)
FT: 52-47 (15-19)

Otago Gold Rush 54 (Suzie Bates 23) Waikato Wizards 47 (Leanne Walker 13)
1Q: 10-11
HT: 23-25 (13-14)
3Q: 44-33 (21-8)
FT: 54-47 (10-14)

Taranaki Trojans 62 (Zoe Kensington 16, Amber Bellringer 15, Jordan Hunter 13) Canterbury Wildcats 52 (Erin Rooney 22)
1Q: 15-10
HT: 32-18 (17-8)
3Q: 46-39 (14-21)
FT: 62-52 (16-13)

Harbour Breeze 73 (Charmian Purcell 22, Karlene Kingi 16, Chelsea Terei 12) Otago Gold Rush 63 (Samara Gallaher 15, Suzie Bates 13, Janet Main 13)
1Q: 15-15
HT: 35-38 (20-23)
3Q: 55-51 (20-13)
FT: 73-63 (18-12)

Canterbury Wildcats 60 (Erin Rooney 15, Miranda Caldwell 13, Megan Shea 10) Waikato Wizards 48 (Natasha Lenden 18)
1Q: 18-10
HT: 28-19 (10-9)
3Q: 42-36 (14-17)
FT: 60-48 (18-12)

Plate Section

GABBA Gators 85 (Stevee Theyers 17, Adoniah Lewis 17, Tatjana Zizic 12) Hutt Valley 65 (Terina Cowan 26, Miriana Cowan 14)
1Q: 20-11
HT: 38-31 (18-20)
3Q: 66-42 (28-11)
FT: 85-65 (19-23)

Wellington Swish 75 (Melissa LeToa 18, Molly McCallum 18, Renee Leota 10) NZ Academy 60 (Natasha Hall 21, Milika Nathan 12, Jelena Vucinic 10)
1Q: 15-13
HT: 31-33 (16-20)
3Q: 50-48 (19-15)
FT: 75-60 (25-12)

Waikato Cougars 62 (Letava Whippy 16, Stacey Hettig 10) GABBA Gators 53 (Freya Newton 13, Adoniah Lewis 10, Tatjana Zizic 10)
1Q: 17-8
HT: 28-23 (11-15)
3Q: 50-32 (22-9)
FT: 62-53 (12-21)

NZ Academy 76 (Natasha Hall 20, Milika Nathan 16, Lisa Scott 12, Mikayla Blair 11) Hutt Valley 57 (Ava Filipo 16)
1Q: 24-18
HT: 45-30 (21-12)
3Q: 64-47 (19-17)
FT: 76-57 (12-10)

Waikato Cougars 92 (Kyler Parai 25, Stacey Hettig 16, Moengaroa Subritzky 12, Shiana Harris 12) Wellington Swish 89 (Melissa LeToa 22, Molly McCallum 19, Jasmine Davies 18)
1Q: 19-28
HT: 48-43 (29-15)
3Q: 70-68 (22-25)
FT: 92-89 (22-21)