Basketball: It's over for Ferns

* New Zealand 67 Australia 75

Australia, led by a couple of players with strong Kiwi connections, can go to Te Awamutu for the final basketball test against New Zealand today with the best-of-three series already in the basket.

They sealed the Oceania women's championship by beating New Zealand in the second test in Napier yesterday to secure a decisive 2-0 series lead.

Led by their point guard double act of Jae Cross and Alicia Poto, the Australians were not always convincing, but they had enough composure down the stretch to snuff out the Tall Ferns' ambitions to take the series into a decider.

Cross, who was born in New Zealand, and Sydney-born Poto, whose family hails from Hastings, were right in the thick of it for Australia.

They led their scorers with 18 and 14 respectively, as well as sharing the defensive duties on Tall Ferns star point guard Angela Marino.

Marino kept Cross and Poto busy at the defensive end with her ability to shoot from the outside and drive through traffic to the basket.

Her 18 points kept New Zealand in the game, especially in the third quarter, when it looked as though they had run out of ideas.

Marino scored all of the points in a thrilling 6-0 run in the third, to narrow the visitors' lead to just two points with three minutes remaining in that quarter.

Once the Opals established a 60-56 lead in the final quarter, the match and the series were effectively over.

The Tall Ferns lost the first of the three matches by 26 points on Wednesday.

New Zealand 67

(Angela Marino 18, Donna Loffhagen 12, Lisa Wallbutton 10).

Australia 75

(Jae Cross 18, Alicia Poto 14, Jacinta Hamilton 13, Hollie Grima 10).

Halftime: 33-29.

- NZPA