The 2degrees Tall Ferns have been eliminated from heading through to the semi-final stages of the 2025 FIBA Women’s Asia Cup in Shenzhen, China, following a hard-fought clash against world number 9, Japan.
Tayla Dalton wasted no time getting the Kiwis on the scoreboard, draining a straight-on triple to ignite the contest. Japan’s Kokoro Tanaka responded in kind, setting the tone for a thrilling encounter.
Despite relentless defensive pressure from the Japanese side, the Tall Ferns showed composure, doing well to limit turnovers and maintain their rhythm. It took nearly four minutes for the Ferns to strike again, this time through captain Esra McGoldrick, who knocked down a confident three-pointer.
Japan’s Stephanie Mawuli answered back with a triple of her own, helping her team edge ahead 12-8. But the Ferns weren’t backing down. McGoldrick added her second bucket following a well-timed timeout from coach Nat Hurst, before Charlotte Whittaker made an immediate impact off the bench with a strong post move to tie the game.
The opening quarter remained tight, with Japan narrowly taking the lead by just two points heading into the break.
Captain McGoldrick continued to lead by example in the second stanza, using her height to her advantage and adding another two points to get the Tall Ferns rolling again.
But Japan responded with a scoring burst—Nanako Todo and Tanaka each hitting their second triples of the night—prompting Coach Hurst to call her second timeout of the half.
That’s when the fightback began. A renewed 2degrees Tall Ferns squad rolled out, led by their captain.
McGoldrick was everywhere—anchoring the defence with two huge blocks, whilst nailing her second triple of the night and following that up with a strong putback, taking her personal tally to 15 points.
Pahlyss Hokianga muscled her way to the rim for a tough two, cutting the deficit to just one. Moments later, Dalton found a cutting McGoldrick for a smooth finish at the basket—giving New Zealand its first lead since early in the first quarter.
That’s when youngster Bailey Flavell capped off the half in style. Firstly, hanging in the air for what seemed to last an eternity before flipping up a tough lay in, just moments before sinking a clutch mid-range runner at the buzzer to give the Tall Ferns a well-earned two-point halftime lead.
McGoldrick with a mammoth 17 points and nine rebounds to accompany to blocks in the first half.
McGoldrick wasted no time in the second half, securing her double-double with the first rebound—just 16 minutes into the game.
Tanaka continued to shine for Japan, adding to her tally and bringing her total to 13 points as her side regained the lead midway through the third term. Konno then sparked a momentum shift, knocking down a triple before stealing the ball and scoring at the other end—capping a 9-0 run that put Japan up by eight.
Turnovers began to mount for New Zealand, with 10 recorded by the end of the third. A pair of McGoldrick free throws broke the scoring drought, but Japan outscored the Tall Ferns 22-8 in the quarter to take a 12-point lead into the final term.
Japan continued to pour it on in the fourth, opening the quarter with a 7-0 run. McGoldrick continued to battle hard, scoring five straight points to try and spark her teammates, before assisting a McKenna Dale triple that briefly cut the lead to 10.
But another Japanese surge halted any hopes of a comeback, as they closed out the game 77-62 to advance to the semi-final against hosts China.
A tough second half for the 2degrees Tall Ferns, well summed up by Coach Hurst post game.
“First twenty minutes we’re pretty happy with. We wanted to fix a couple of things at halftime and I just think we came out in the third quarter and the game got a little bit away from us. But we were able to get back to what looked like us in the fourth, so happy about the bounce back.”
As we all are, a forever proud Coach couldn’t faulter the teams efforts during and in the build up to this big match up.
“The fight that the girls show every game, every minute to prep themselves for this. All that kind of stuff, I can never faulter… to continue to fight for 40 minutes when things were down, just super proud to head coach this team.”
Despite some great looks in this game – the Tall Ferns were left to rue some missed opportunities to tick the scoreboard over.
“I don’t think we rewarded ourselves enough. We had some great looks in the second half that we just didn’t finish or didn’t knock down.”
Tall Fern guard Tayla Dalton also identifying that third quarter as a trouble point, but remained proud of the groups fight.
“Japan’s always a very tough team to play. They’re well skilled, great three point shooters but like Coach Nat said, we left a lot of points on the board. Great first half, but yeah that third quarter, unfortunately, killed us in the end.”
Unfortunately for the Tall Ferns, their quest through to semi-final comes to an end, but as far as FIBA World Cup qualifying goes, it’s all on!
“I think first of all, this time for World Cup, six got through. So we got the job done.”
Dalton buoyant with this young team’s performance throughout the Asia Cup campaign that now sees them able to build on this campaign leading into World Cup qualifiers.
“If you went back two years ago and saw the team we had to the team we have now – so much younger, completely new coaching staff – I could not be more proud of the girls. Such great energy, such team culture – I think anyone walking around the hotel would say we want to be apart of Team New Zealand.”
New Zealand now waits on the result of the over qualification semi-final to see who their opponents will be for tomorrow’s 5th/6th playoff.
“I think the pathway for New Zealand basketball is looking very, very bright. And I know everyone at home, while we might not have got the win today, are super proud and will be ready to be watching whoever our matchup is tomorrow.”
2degrees Tall Ferns 62 (McGoldrick 28p, 12r, 3b, Dalton 9p, Pizzey 7p, 7r) defeated by Japan 77 (Tanaka 17p, 4a, Konno 13p, 4a, Miyazawa 11p, 10r)
Q1: 17-19
HT: 41-39
Q3: 49-61
FT: 62-77
