KEY POINTS:
Shooters Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe and Micaela Cocks pushed their case for Olympics berths as they guided the New Zealand women's basketball team to a 69-60 victory over Angola in Madrid.
Both guards began the current tour of Europe very much under the selection microscope and finally found their range against a physical African side that allowed very little room for inside scoring.
All but 20 of the New Zealand points came from their guard line, as the Kiwis chalked up their win over Angola whom they also beat 63-55 in their tour opener last week.
"They monstered us again," coach Mike McHugh said.
"But even though the margin was similar, I felt we played much better tonight, particularly our shooting guards.
"Certainly, Angola had improved, but we improved a bit more - we played with a lot more poise and executed plays much better."
Angola, ranked 42nd in the world, enjoyed a 41-29 rebounding advantage, but were limited to just eight offensive boards, half as many as the previous encounter.
McMeeken-Ruscoe and point guard Angela Marino led New Zealand with 12 points each, while forward Jillian Harmon snatched 10 rebounds.
The victory keeps New Zealand, ranked 16th in the world, on target for their goal of four wins from six tour games.
They play ninth-ranked Czech Republic twice later this week.
"That will be a very difficult thing to do, although they haven't been playing that well lately.
"The Czechs certainly have some quality players and for a long time, they have been projected as a top-five team, but they have never quite lived up to that potential," McHugh said.
So far on their European tour, New Zealand have won two matches, both against Angola and lost to Spain 58-77 and Japan 67-71.
- NZPA
