Silver Ferns coach Janine Southby has admitted there is still "some doubt" within the team after their 19-goal loss to Australia in the Quad Series.
The 67-48 thrashing was their fifth straight defeat at the hands of the Diamonds and a glaring sign of the growing gulf between the two nations.
Speaking to Matt Brown on Radio Sport, Southby said she was "hugely disappointed" with the result and conceded that her side will need to improve on trusting each other on the court.
"There's still some doubt within the group around just that ability to trust each other and how far can they push someone, is someone else going to be there.
"It's still that building of trust. They are still quite a young group and we are working really hard to build that trust and confidence within them, and sometimes that takes time and tonight unfortunately the connections in the attacking end weren't what they needed to be."
The fifth straight defeat was the heaviest loss against Australia in Southby's coaching tenure, and will put increased pressure on the team to perform at the upcoming Commonwealth Games.
"You always look at yourself first and foremost," Southby said when asked if she felt the pressure as coach after the recent run of poor performances.
"We look at all the systems and all the processes and everything that we do in preparation. We have felt over this tour that we've really fined that down and we've had some really strong preparation going into games and our numbers and our data that we keep and all of that side of things suggest we have been on track.
"It's about individuals taking responsibility for their selves out there as well. I certainly look at everything I do and I'm tasked to go through to Commonwealth games and at this stage I'm intending on doing that and we've got to pick ourselves up.
"It's not a great place to be in but we can do it and we've just got to keep working hard and working smart."
Is there time to close the gap with Australia with just two months to go until the Commonwealth Games?
"I think there is but again we've got to be a lot smarter in what we do and we have to be a lot tougher on ourselves in the lead in with all the training and all the work that we're doing.
"Tonight unfortunately the connections in the attacking end weren't what they needed to be.
"Hugely disappointing because we felt that we had addressed that post the South African game and there was certainly been a real resolve and heart shown in that game but not backed up tonight."
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