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Mark Baker/AP
Japan’s Stephanie Mawuli was the Tall Ferns’ chief tormentor during the Fiba Asia Cup semifinal in Sydney.
At Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney: Japan 88 (Stephanie Mawuli 17, Monica Okoye 16, Nako Motohashi 10) New Zealand 52 (Charlisse Leger-Walker 14, Tahlia Tupaea 12) Q1: 24-11; Q2: 47-25; Q3: 66-38
The Tall Ferns’ pursuit of a maiden Fiba Asia Cup title has come to an end after a crushing 88-52 loss to defending champions Japan in Sydney.
Despite putting up a determined effort, the youthful New Zealanders were outclassed by a ruthless Japanese outfit at Sydney Olympic Park, receiving a harsh lesson at both ends of the court.
Stephanie Mawuli (17 points, six rebounds) and Monica Okoye (16 points) led the way for the Olympic silver medallists, who will meet either China or Australia in Sunday’s final as they shoot for their sixth successive Asian Cup title.
After Charlisse Leger-Walker uncharacteristically missed an early opportunity to put the Tall Ferns in front, Japan largely dominated the opening quarter, racing out to a 24-11 lead against the shell-shocked Kiwis, who seemed slightly overawed by the occasion.
Mark Baker/AP
Japan’s Saori Miyazaki drives past Charlisse Leger-Walker, who was once again New Zealand’s standout.
However, having struggled to penetrate Japan’s smothering defence in that first period, the Tall Ferns came out swinging in the second after a pep talk from coach Guy Molloy.
The outstanding Leger-Walker found her range and nailed a three-pointer from distance, while Ritorya Tamilo also got in on the act as the Kiwis briefly closed the gap on the scoreboard to a more respectable eight points.
Yet the Tall Ferns couldn’t sustain that fightback for long and when Japan reintroduced their big guns off the bench, they quickly piled on the points with some inspired offensive play that at times had the world No 29 side chasing shadows.
Japan shaded the quarter by 23-14 to head into the halftime break with a huge 47-25 advantage. It could have been slightly closer, had Krystal Leger-Walker not been cruelly denied an audacious three-pointer by the buzzer, but the Tall Ferns still had an uphill task if they were to reach their first-ever final.
It was more of the same in the third quarter, as a tiring New Zealand side squandered multiple opportunities and were repeatedly hit with time violations in the face of some fierce Japanese defence. In attack, the reigning champions continued to show no mercy as they entered the final quarter with a 28-point lead.
With the result a formality, New Zealand went for broke in the last 10-minute period, but Japan still closed strongly to record a resounding 88-52 victory.
US college phenom Leger-Walker was again the Tall Ferns’ standout, top-scoring with 14 points. Tahlia Tupaea was next best with 12.
Japan will be red-hot favourites to retain their title, having humbled hosts Australia 91-66 in their previous game. They also thrashed the Philippines (95-57) and Chinese Taipei (94-53) en route to the semifinals.
The eight-team regional tournament doubles as qualifying for next year’s Olympics, with the four semifinalists qualifying for Paris 2024.
With the commanding victory over New Zealand, the Japanese have now gone 17 games unbeaten across four Asia Cups, their last loss coming against Australia in the group phase of the 2017 tournament.
AT A GLANCE
Tall Ferns results at the Fiba Asia Cup:
June 26: Beat Korea (66-64)
June 27: Lost to China (46-80)
June 28: Beat Lebanon (76-45)
June 30: Beat Philippines (83-78)
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