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USA Womens National Team Cuts Down New Zealand Tall Ferns 78-60
By Jenny Maag // USA Basketball // April 24, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / April 23, 2008
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USA National Team Cuts Down New Zealand’s Tall Ferns 78-60
BEIJING, China (April 23, 2008) – Sylvia Fowles (Chicago Sky) scored 14 points and Katie Smith (Detroit Shock) had 10 to lead the 2007-08 USA Basketball Women’s National Team (3-1) to a 78-60 victory over the New Zealand Tall Ferns (0-4) on Wednesday night at the 2008 Good Luck Beijing Tournament in China.
In today’s other games Australia (2-2) got its second win by edging South Korea (1-3) 78-71, while host China (4-0) remained undefeated with a 66-58 win over Cuba (2-2).
The USA closes out preliminary play against China on April 24 at 8:00 p.m. (8:00 a.m. EDT). The USA versus China contest will be televised live by NBA TV, which will air the game again that day at 4:00 p.m. EDT.
“I give a lot of credit to New Zealand for just not quitting, having a very good second half and continuing to fight,” said USA head coach Anne Donovan. “After the first half we thought the game was over, but New Zealand didn’t believe that. They kept fighting. They certainly made it an interesting game there at the end.”
“New Zealand is a very scrappy opponent and they played really hard in the second half,” Taj McWilliams-Franklin (Los Angeles Sparks) said. “In the first half we played like we normally do, we dominated. But in the second half we lost our focus and they came back really well. They played that zone really well and made it a game in the end.”
The USA’s shooting was off in the first quarter as the Americans managed just 25.0 percent (3-12 FGs) of their attempts. However, they went 13-of-18 from the line in the first stanza to counter New Zealand’s field goals, and the quarter ended with the USA ahead by six, 20-14.
Clamping down on defense, the USA’s offense surged to 29-14 before the Kiwis sank their only field goal of the second quarter at the 6:31 mark. Continuing to dominate the remainder of the first half, by the midway buzzer the game seemed well in hand, 48-22.
In the third quarter the USA’s 26-point halftime lead expanded to 29 points, 70-41.
Never giving up, New Zealand played the fourth quarter like it was a two-point game, getting steals and taking advantage of the USA’s lack of defensive focus. Trailing by 31 points, 74-43, the Tall Ferns tried to mount a comeback. Scoring an 8-0 run, which included a traditional 3-point play and a true 3-pointer, the gap was suddenly narrowed to 74-51 with 5:33 to play. Crystal Langhorne (Washington Mystics) ended the USA’s scoring drought at 5:09, but that wasn’t enough to put the fuel back into her team’s defensive fire. New Zealand went 7-of-8 from the charity stripe in a 9-0 spurt during a four-minute span to close to 76-60 with 32 seconds to play. There was not enough time to complete the comeback, however, as the clock struck midnight, the buzzer sounded and New Zealand’s Cinderella story was not to be.
Every member of the USA team scored. The balanced attack was aided by nine points from Lisa Leslie (Los Angeles Sparks); eight from McWilliams-Franklin; Candice Wiggins (Minnesota Lynx) contributed seven points; and four U.S. players notched six points each.
On April 26 FIBA, the International Basketball Federation, will host the 2008 Olympic draw (5:30 a.m. EDT) at the Wukesong Arena between the bronze (3:15 a.m. EDT) and gold medal (8:00 a.m EDT) games.
Outrebounding New Zealand 55-35, the USA turned the ball over 15 times and finished shooting 38.5 percent (25-65 FGs) for the game.
Aneka Kerr, 17 points, and Angela Marino, 14 points, were the only two New Zealanders who scored in double digits.
NBA TV will televise live the USA’s final game on April 26, and will re-air that contest at 4:00 p.m. (EDT).
Donovan is being assisted on the sidelines by collegiate head coaches Gail Goestenkors of the University of Texas and Temple University’s Dawn Staley. USA assistant coach Mike Thibault (Connecticut Sun) aided in the team’s pre-Beijing training camp but was unable to join the team in China due to his WNBA coaching duties.
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