The Tall Ferns have lost 88-64 to Montenegro in their opening game of the FIBA Women’s World Cup Pre-Qualifiers in Mexico.
After holding a 21-16 lead early in the second quarter, the European side put on a shooting clinic, hitting three threes in five minutes to lead 37-32 at the break, then outscoring the Kiwis 51-32 in the second half to claim the win.
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Montenegro shot 14-of-38 from beyond the arc at a 37 percent clip, with leading scorer Bojana Kovacevic hitting 4-of-7 triples for her 18 points on the night.
New Zealand were led by Ritorya Tamilo, who scored 11 points and six rebounds in a solid effort. Penina Davidson also had 11 points, Tera Reed scored nine points and four assists, and McKenna Dale added eight points.
Pahlyss Hokianga added five all in the fourth quarter along with five assists.
The game also saw Tall Fern debuts for Bailey Flavell, Ashlee Strawbridge, Ella Tofaeono and Charlotte Whittaker; the quartet scoring a combined 14 points off the bench.
Statistically, Montenegro won the game not just with their shooting and offensive rebounding (16 boards, leading to a 19-8 advantage in second chance points), but also with a strong defensive effort.
They forced the Kiwis into 25 turnovers - which they directly turned into 33 points – and held the Tall Ferns to just 20 made attempts (from 52 attempts) from the field at a 38 percent clip.
Following the game, Tall Ferns head coach Natalie Hurst said that the team would collectively need to learn from their mistakes so they can apply them to their game – against hosts Mexico.
“This was our first run as a group together; so credit to Montenegro, they came out and pressured us from the start, and obviously they shot the ball very well,” said Hurst.
“We need to be tougher, we need to guard the three point line a little better, and our communication was not where it needs to be tonight. So they’re three key areas that we need to fix up pretty quickly.”
Davidson said the team needed to focus on the next challenge.
“We got punched in the face first up; it’s pretty hard to take - but it’s pretty hard to win a game when the other team scores that many points and we only score 64. But it’s a good lesson for us and we’ve got two pretty good opportunities coming up [to win].”
Next up for New Zealand in Group B is a clash with Mexico on Wednesday (tip-off 2.30pm NZT).
Montenegro 88 (Bojana Kovacevic 18, Maja Bigovic 16, Dragana Zivkovic 11) Tall Ferns 64 (Ritorya Tamilo 11, Penina Davidson 11). 1Q: 16-14, HT: 37-32, 3Q: 66-47