The Sky Sport Tall Ferns have lost the first game of their Europe Tour, falling 64-83 in a friendly to Serbia in Belgrade overnight.
Charlisse Leger-Walker led the Kiwis with 15 points, while Grace Hunter scored 10 points off the bench on a perfect 4/4 shooting – including 2/2 from downtown. Veteran Penina Davidson added 9 points and a game-high 8 rebounds, alongside Ash Taia’s 9 points (on 3/6 shooting from outside) and 4 assists. Krystal Leger-Walker led a strong bench effort with 7 points, a game-high 7 assists and 4 rebounds, with 7 points from Tayla Dalton.
Serbia were led by Ivana Raca and her 22 points, 6 steals and 6 rebounds, while Jovana Nogic added 19 points on 4/8 shooting from beyond the arc.
Despite the final outcome, the Kiwis will be heartened by their performance against the World #8 ranked women’s team; winning the third and fourth quarters by a combined 43-31 after trailing 21-52 at the half. They also out-rebounded Serbia 31-30 – including 10 offensive boards – and were the superior shooters from 2-point range at 57% compared to Serbia’s 44%. New Zealand also outscored Serbia 30-28 in the paint.
New Zealand was ultimately undone by a trio of factors: Serbia’s dangerous three point shooting (10/19 at a 53% clip while the Kiwis shot just 7/26 at 27%), turnovers (27 to 23) and free throws – the Tall Ferns hitting just 9/17 throws (54%) from the charity stripe compared to Serbia’s 13/16 (81%).
New Zealand will no doubt look to address all of these factors for their next clash with Serbia tonight, part of a three-game series in Belgrade before the squad heads to Istanbul to face Turkey and Poland.
Stats:
New Zealand 64 – C. Leger-Walker 15 PTS | Hunter 10 PTS | Davidson 9 PTS & 8 REB | Taia 9 PTS & 4 AST | K. Leger-Walker 7 PTS & 7 AST & 4 REB | Dalton 7 PTS | Kelman-Poto 4 PTS, 5 REB | Beck 3 PTS, 5 REB | Tamilo 2 BLK, 2 REB
Serbia 83 – Raca 22 PTS & 6 STL & 6 REB | Nogic 19 PTS, 4 AST
Quarter scores: 25-8, 52-21, 64-43, 83-64.
