Tall Ferns thrash India at William Jones Cup

Ashleigh Karaitiana

First on court at the William Jones Cup in Taiwan on Wednesday the Tall Ferns produced a commanding performance to thrash India 114-39. Guard Ashleigh Karaitiana (183-G-92, college: Hawaii) led the Kiwis with 38 points (14/23 FG, 7/13 3PG) as a number of other players posted big numbers. Forward Penina Davidson (190-F-95, college: California) produced a double-double of 12 points and 15 rebounds with Jacinta Beckley (185-F-95, college: Seattle, agency: AgainHello), Stella Beck (183-G-95, college: St.Mary's, CA) and Brooke Blair (173-G-94, college: Idaho St.) each scoring in double figures. Forwards Tessa Boagni (188-F-96, college: CS Northridge) (9 points and 10 rebounds) and Kalani Purcell (188-F-95, college: BYU) (9 points and 8 rebounds) were close to double-doubles and Tera-Akiene Reed added 6 points to 9 rebounds in just less than ten minutes of action. Tall Ferns Head Coach Guy Molloy was pleased his team, after becoming battle-hardened in Japan, was able to put on a relentless display. "Although the win became easy, what was pleasing was the Tall Ferns game style on display - as it was at the Commonwealth Games but with a new group of players. I am pleased we have had such rapid buy-in from a talented group of young players," said Molloy. Karaitiana was quickly into her offensive stride as the Tall Ferns put together a dominant opening period to lead 34-8 after ten minutes. The Melbourne based guard amassed 16 points, and Beck scored 8 points in the spell. The other three starters Beckley, Davidson and Purcell also made scores as the advantage stretched to 42-12. Blair knocked down a pair of threes, Karaitiana took her tally into the twenties and Davidson added six points to ten rebounds as the Kiwis took a 56-17 lead into the half-time break. India held their own in the opening stages of the second half but they couldnt stay with New Zealand for long, the lead ballooning out to 89-32 at the three-quarter mark - India kept to just nine points in the final stanza - as the margin continued to grow.
Courtesy of: nzherald.co.nz