SHENZHEN (China) - New Zealand remained in contention following their 70-50 breakthrough win against Indonesia in the FIBA U18 Women's Asia Cup 2024, Wednesday evening at the Longhua Cultural and Sports Center.
Save for that shaky fourth quarter, the Junior Tall Ferns were in control and that proved to be enough to keep their foes listless while they went on to chalk up win no. 1 after bowing to contenders Japan and China in their first two games.
They finished as the no. 3 seed in Group B with a 1-2 record, and are bound for the Qualification to Semi-Finals set on June 28 in the same venue.
Game heroes: Rebecca Moors led New Zealand with 14 points and 8 rebounds, along with 3 assists, 3 steals, and a block as she managed to overcome a scary collision with an opponent in a battle for the loose ball during the first half.
Arna Bright backed her up with 11 points on a 3-of-5 clip from deep as all hands were on deck in the wire-to-wire win, with all players scoring at least 2 points.
Turning point: Moors and Bright were among the five that helped string together a 16-2 start into the match, zooming that good of an opening and never to look back.
It was, however, by no means easy, especially during the fourth quarter as the Indonesians tried to storm back by leaning on their outside shooting.
But they could not cut the gap to as close as they wanted, and Moors delivering the final blows in the dying seconds all but sealed the result for New Zealand.
Stats don't lie: Indonesia still had reasons to smile about despite the loss, which booted them out of contention as they fell to 0-3. They racked up more steals, 12-11, and got outrebounded on the offensive end just slightly, 9-12.
It was truly a commendable effort for the smaller Indonesia, who will next face Malaysia (0-3) in the Classification 7-8 set on the 28th as well.
FIBA