Basketball: Tall Ferns beaten by Brazil

New Zealand have fallen to Brazil 62-73 in their latest match at the four-nations women's basketball tournament in Xiangyuan, China.

Brazil, ranked sixth in the world, were bigger in every position on the court and used their size well to dominate the early stages of the game, played overnight.

Assistant coach Dean Kinsman said the team's shooting from outside the arc needed to be fixed.

"Our three-point shooting was our Achilles heel. We shot just three from 18.

"Everything else was fine, from the field and foul shots were good. We were on the back foot from the word go because of their extra physicality, especially early on,'' Kinsman said.

The Tall Ferns' next game is on Wednesday in Yulin against China followed by Australia the next night and then Brazil again.

The tournament is part of a build up towards the London Olympic qualifying series against Australia in Australian in September this year.

Scores:

Brazil 73 (Clarissa Santos 23) New Zealand 62 (Lisa Wallbutton 16, Jillian Harmon 14, Micaela Cocks 11, Natalie Taylor 10). Halftime: 37-24.

- NZPA