Basketball: Tall Ferns lose to Cuba

New Zealand women's basketball team put on a fighting second half display, going down 55-74 to Cuba on Wednesday.

In the process the Tall Ferns lost captain Kirstin Daly for most of the second spell, after she took a Cuban elbow to the throat.

Daly was left in agony on the ground, fighting for breath.

New Zealand team doctor Nick Chamberlain, who treated her courtside, said Daly's larynx was badly bruised.

"She's on strict orders not to speak because she needs to rest her voice box, so she couldn't go back on as captain and she would have had to take care with her breathing while running on court," Chamberlain said.

Daly may have an x-ray of her throat taken, but Chamberlain did not believe there was any long-term damage. He said she would be sore for a while.

Cuba led 45-29 at halftime and, frustrated by the New Zealanders' improved defensive effort in the second half, only extended their winning margin to nineteen points.

Gina Farmer topscored for New Zealand with 15 points and Tania Brunton added 12, with 100 percent accuracy on her two-point shots.

With limited time on court Megan Compain made a valuable second half contribution, scoring nine points.

Cuba 74 New Zealand 55 (45-29)

Scorers:

Cuba: Tania Seino 12, Yamilet Martinez 12, Cariola
Hechavarria 10, Jacquelin Plutin 9, Yuliseni Soria 9, Liset Castillo 5, Lisdeivi Victores 4, Grisel Herrera 4, Maria Leon 3, Taimara Suero 2, Dalia Henry 2, Milayda Enriquez 2.

New Zealand: Gina Farmer 15, Tania Brunton 12, Megan Compain 9, Rebecca Cotton 5, Julie Ofsoski 5, Leone Patterson 4, Leanne Walker 3, Kirstin Daly 2.

- NZPA