Tall Ferns open Taipei tournament with win

Micaela Cocks

The Tall Ferns have begun their Asian tour in impressive style, overwhelming India 75-52 in the opening game of the William Jones Cup tournament in Taiwan. New Zealand were led by guard Micaela Cocks (174-G-86, college: Oregon), who scored 12 of her 21 points in the opening quarter as they powered nine points clear at the first break, extending the lead to 42-26 by halftime. The game tightened up in the second half but New Zealand's lead was never threatened, helped by 15 points to Chevannah Paalvast (180-G/F-91, college: Monmouth) and 11 for Jillian Harmon (185-PF-87, college: Stanford, agency: LBM Management) to go with her seven rebounds and six assists. Coach Kennedy Kereama expects New Zealand to be tested in their second match against South Korea on Thursday. "For a first up game we will take a 23 point win. But we still have a lot of areas to improve on," he said. "It was good to be able to give all of our bench some valuable minutes and give some of our debutants a good taste of international basketball." The five-day tournament opens a busy month for the Tall Ferns, culminating in the Asia Cup in Bangalore.
Courtesy of: nzcity.co.nz