Esra McGoldrick shoots the ball during the match between New Zealand and Japan at the FIBA Women's Asia Cup 2025 in Shenzhen. Photo: AFP/ Lu Hanxin
A defeat to world number nine Japan saw the New Zealand women's basketball team miss out on a semi-final spot at the 2025 FIBA Women's Asia Cup in Shenzhen, China.
New Zealand lost 77-62, despite an encouraging performance in the first half, which saw them in the lead 41-39 at the major break.
Captain Esra McGoldrick was a powerhouse during the first half, scoring 17 points, nine rebounds and two blocks.
Youngster Bailey Flavell capped off the half in style - hanging in the air for what seemed to last an eternity before flipping up a tough lay-in, just moments before sinking a clutch mid-range runner at the buzzer to give the Tall Ferns a well-earned two-point halftime lead.
Japan emerged a different team in the third quarter, as guards Kokoro Tanaka and Noriko Konno took control at the offensive end, while the Tall Ferns struggled to crack some tough defense.
Japan ended up outscoring New Zealand 22-8 in the third quarter, and when they went on a 7-0 run to start the final quarter to increase their lead to 19 points, the margin ended up being too big for the Tall Ferns to overhaul.
McGoldrick, finishing the game with 28 points and 12 rebounds, continued to battle hard, scoring five straight points to try and spark her teammates, before assisting a McKenna Dale three-pointer that briefly cut the lead to 10.
But another Japanese surge halted any hopes of a comeback, as they closed out the game to advance to the semi-final against hosts China.
The result left coach Nat Hurst in a reflective mood.
"First 20 minutes we're pretty happy with. We wanted to fix a couple of things at halftime and I just think we came out in the third quarter and the game got a little bit away from us. But we were able to get back to what looked like us in the fourth, so happy about the bounce-back.
"The fight that the girls show every game, every minute to prep themselves for this, all that kind of stuff… to continue to fight for 40 minutes when things were down, just super proud to head coach this team."
New Zealand's final match of the tournament will be against the Philippines later on Saturday, with the winner finishing in fifth in the eight-team event.
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