Olympic Games: Australian Opals defeat New Zealand Tall Ferns in first Rio basketball qualifier

AUSTRALIAN Opals coach Brendan Joyce has praised his side’s steely defensive display after they edged closer to booking a spot at the Rio Olympics.

FIBA Oceania Championship at Rod Laver Arena. Australian Opals vs New Zealands Tall Ferns. Tessa Lavey drives hard around Micaela Cocks . Pic: Michael Klein

AUSTRALIAN Opals coach Brendan Joyce has praised his side’s steely defensive display after they went a long way towards booking a spot at the Rio Olympics.

In front of a capacity crowd at Rod Laver Arena, the Opals scored a decisive 61-41 win over New Zealand.

The 20-point margin gives the Opals a huge advantage heading into the second and final game in New Zealand tomorrow with the Tall Ferns needing to win by 21 points to claim the series.

“Running out it was pretty emotional having such a large crowd,” Opals skipper Laura Hodges said.

Katie Rae Ebzery of the Opals with Beck Stella and Penina Davidson of the Ferns.

“To play in front of your own country in Melbourne at Rod Laver is an amazing feeling.

“I’m a little disappointed with our shooting percentage but we’re 20 points up and here is 40 minutes to go.”

Centre Suzy Batkovic scored a game-high 16 points and seven rebounds while point guard Tessa Lavey starred with nine points, 11 rebounds and five assists.

“It was an incredible defensive effort and it is not to be underestimated to keep a team like that to 41 points,” Joyce said.

“We didn’t shoot well and we had a lot of wide open threes, so our execution was pretty good but we didn’t knock down shots.”

Micaela Cocks of the Tall Ferns drives to the basket.

Tall Ferns coach Kennedy Kereama said all is not lost for his side.

“The margin I am not that pleased with, but the actual score line we held Australia to I’m very happy with,” he said.

“I think that is a beatable scoreline for us and that’s realistic.

“It (overcoming the margin) is going to be a monumental task.

“We’ll play for the win first and the margin is important, but we’re going to have shoot the ball a lot better than we did.”

It was a nervous start for both teams with Talbot on target early.

The 21-year-old shot five points in the first term to help the Opals establish a 15-5 lead at quarter-time.

New Zealand found its range during the second term but the Opals did enough work to lead by 12 points at the main break with Batkovic playing a big role.

The home side put the foot on the petal after the break, blowing the lead out to 22 points midway through the third term.

The Opals were never headed from that point, charging to a strong victory in front of their home crowd.

Rachel Jarry of the Opals during the 2015 FIBA Oceania Championships.

Originally published as Olympic Games: Australian Opals defeat New Zealand Tall Ferns in first Rio basketball qualifier