South Korea edge Taiwan Blue team to conquer title - Aug 2, 2015
South Korea - Taiwan Blue 68:52
South Korea celebrated the William Jones Cup title. They rallied past Taiwan Blue side in the final game of the tournament. Kim Jung Eun (180-F-87) provided 14 points to lead the winners. South Korea eked out a 16:15 lead after ten minutes. They extended the gap in the second frame. The Korean team accumulated a 39:26 halftime lead. South Korea boosted the gap at 18-point mark at the final intermission and never looked back en route to the win. Park Hye-Jin (178-G-90) provided 12 points, while Lee Kyung-Eun (176-G-87) and Kim Danbi (180-F-90) had 11 points each for the winners. Huang Ping-Chen (178-F-89) responded with 14 points for Taiwan.
Stallworth record-setting night (48 points): Japan 95-USA Select 86 - Jul 31, 2015
Team USA JC were defeated by quality Asian opposition for the third time in as many days at the 37th William Jones Cup in Taiwan, losing 86-95 in OT to Japan. Denesha Stallworth (190-F-92, college: Kentucky, agency: LBM Management) dominated start to finish for Team USA with a event high 48 points and 15 rebounds. It seemed that her perfect night was over as the team led 84-80 with just 30 seconds remaining but it was short lived. A big three pointer by Mikoto Onuma (174-F-93) and a costly turnover cost Team USA the led and then the game as Japan took over in OT. Onuma was the top score for Japan with 20 points on 9-12 shooting. Manami Fujioka added 19 points and 5 rebounds in the win.
Kristina King (178-F/G, college: Richmond, agency: Flash Agency) added 14 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists for Team USA in a losing effort. Although Team USA lost the game; Stallworth performance proved just how dominate she can be in the Asian market. Not only did she score a Williams Jones Cup record 48 points, she shot 75% from the field in four games. Outside of the great scoring she is currently averaging 11.7 rebounds per game.
Purcell shines in Tall Ferns loss - Jul 30, 2015
The Tall Ferns were defeated by quality Asian opposition for the third time in as many days at the 37th William Jones Cup in Taiwan, losing 75-56 to South Korea. Kalani Purcell (188-F-95) produced a powerful stat line of 10 points/11 rebounds/2 assists/2 steals/1 block but ultimately 31 turnovers was the undoing of the Ferns. The highly respected Korean's, are ranked 12th on the FIBA World rankings, the Tall Ferns 22nd. Former Waitakere guard Chevannah Paalvast (180-G/F-91, college: Monmouth) (7pts) was rewarded for a strong showing against Japan the previous day with a spot in the starting five alongside Davidson, Taylor, Cocks and Wallbutton. The Tall Ferns made a very encouraging start to the game opening up a handy 17-10 first quarter lead, led by 5 points from Micaela Cocks (174-G-86, college: Oregon). The much vaunted Korean offence was held to just 3 from 14 from the field in the period. The Tall Ferns were less impressive in the second period giving up 24 points to trail 34-32 at half-time. Samara Gallaher (178-G-92) led the New Zealand scoring with 8 points. The Korean perimeter shooters found their groove in the second half shooting an extremely efficient 43% (12/28) from beyond the three-point arc. The lead was extended to a dominant 59-46 advantage at the end of the third stanza and 75-56 by full time. Once again the Kiwis completely dominated the boards winning the rebounding count 44-18 but were once again guilty of committing too many turnovers, 32 in this game on the back of 31 the previous day against Japan. Point guard Cocks scored 8 points, a total matched by Gallaher who also snared 3 boards and 3 steals. 19 year old Penina Davidson (191-F-95, college: California) added 9 rebounds to 6 points and fellow forward Lisa Wallbutton (183-F-86) chimed in with 6 points and 6 rebounds. Veteran guard Natalie Taylor was far from despondent about the team's third consecutive loss. 'We've definitely seen encouraging things as a team in this game and improved on areas we have identified in the previous two games but we are still needing consistency to win games' Tall Ferns coach Kennedy Kereama is also looking beyond this week as he prepares his charges for the Olympic Qualifying series against Australia next month. 'We also understand that it's about growing as a group and getting better everyday. The goal is to still beat Australia and these games give us the perfect opportunity to work on what's needed to get that job done.' Courtesy of: basketball.org.nz
Tall Ferns fall to Japan - Jul 29, 2015
Following the loss to Chinese Taipei on the opening day of the 37th William Jones Cup in Taiwan the Tall Ferns took on Japan in the early game on day two. The Tall Ferns fell behind early and were eventually beaten 78-66. Saki Hayashi (171-G-95) and Mikoto Onuma (174-F-93) led the charge for Japan. The Tall Ferns tweaked the starting line up for this game with guard Stella Beck (183-G-95) replacing Samara Gallaher (178-G-92) alongside Davidson, Taylor, Cocks and Wallbutton. Japan took the opening quarter 24-15 shooting the ball at a very efficient clip - 60% (3/5) from beyond the three point arc and 60% (10/17) overall from the floor. The Tall Ferns had seven scorers in the quarter but only forward Penina Davidson (191-F-95, college: California) (4pts) scored more than one basket. The Tall Ferns fell further behind in the second period trailing 44-29 at half-time. Davidson led all scorers at the break with 11 points but 15 turnovers in the half really damaged the Fern's offensive fluency. The Kiwis enjoyed 17 visits to the foul line as they explored deficiencies in the Japanese interior defence. Japan stretched their lead to 70-44 entering the final period. The final quarter was more encouraging for the Kiwis as they outscored the opposition 22-8. Davidson led the Ferns scoring with 14 points, centre Megan Craig (8/6 FG) contributed 13 points, 5 rebounds and 4 blocks and Chevannah Paalvast chimed in with 11 points. Rookie Tessa Boagni (188-C-96) also scored her first couple of points in international basketball. The Tall Ferns out rebounded the opposition 40-18 and encouragingly got to the foul line 34 times (scoring on 19 occasions). But the most glaring and damaging statistic that the coaching staff will want to address is the 31 turnovers committed by the team. Tall Ferns head coach Kennedy Kereama did confess that matching up against the smaller, quicker Asian teams was presenting some challenges. Courtesy of: basketball.org.nz
Wallbutton scores double-double as Tall Ferns lose opening game at William Jones Cup - Jul 28, 2015
The Tall Ferns were unable to generate a win on the opening night of the 2015 William Jones Cup in Taiwan on Monday night going down 77-66 against Chinese Taipei B. The situation looked positive for New Zealand entering the final period as they held a 52-50 advantage but gave up 27 points in the final quarter. The first starting five of the international season included 19 year old forward Penina Davidson alongside seasoned campaigners Lisa Wallbutton (183-F-86), Micaela Cocks (174-G-86, college: Oregon), Natalie Taylor (183-G/F-82, college: SE Missouri St.) and Samara Gallaher (178-G-92). The Tall Ferns began the game promisingly opening up an early 6-0 lead thanks to baskets from Cocks and Davidson. The home side then embarked on a 15-0 run capitalising on a series of sloppy turnovers from the Tall Ferns. Lisa Wallbutton broke the Taipei run and further scores from Megan Craig and Jordan Hunter eased the Kiwis back into the contest trailing 19-12 at quarter time. The Tall Ferns again started the quarter with a 6-0 run, a long two from Taylor reducing the deficit to a single point, 18-19. As in the first quarter Taipei replied strongly forging a 26-18 advantage. Chevannah Paalvast scored the first triple of the game for the Tall Ferns, that basket heralding a barrage of three's as Hunter, Natalie Taylor and Cocks twice, knocked down shots from behind the three point arc to propel the Tall Ferns to a handy 37-33 half-time advantage. YC Chen led the Chinese Tapei offence with 15 points. The Tall Ferns forwards came to the fore in the third quarter as Wallbutton, Jess Bygate and Davidson engineered the bulk of the scoring in the period. A neat touch pass assist by Wallbutton to Bygate being the prominent moment of quarter three. The Tall Ferns only arrived in Taiwan 26 hours before this encounter and the final period seemed a bridge too far for Kennedy Kereama's team. They gave up a 10-0 run to open the stanza although two quick baskets from the tireless Wallbutton and a coast to coast effort from Cocks kept the Kiwis in contention - trailing 60-58 with 6:30 to play. That was as close as it got as Chinese Taipei B sealed the game with three triples in as many minutes against a tiring New Zealand defence. Assistant coach Aik Ho was philosophical after the game. "We dominated the rebounding count (45-28) but couldn't convert that superiority into points. At the defensive end our 'bigs' struggled to contain the smaller, quicker Chinese Taipei players." Wallbutton was the pick of the Kiwi players securing a double double of 12 points and 11 rebounds, including 7 off the offensive glass. Davidson and Cocks also collected a dozen points but the three point shooting, just 5 from 16 converted, will be a cause for concern for the coaching staff. Chun Cheng Yu scored 19 points for the hosts missing just two of ten scoring attempts. Cocks for her part was extremely pleased with the team's rebounding at both ends of the court but admitted there was work to be done."It never feels good to lose but we can learn a lot from the loss. We have to get better defensively and also look after the ball. Guard Natalie Taylor was looking at the bigger picture. "We are disappointed with the loss but see this as building the team for the Oceania Championships and with it being our first hit out we've identified areas we can fix". The Tall Ferns face a tough schedule of five games in five days and next face Japan, 7pm NZ time on Tuesday. Courtesy of: basketball.org.nz
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