"It hasn't just been a four-year wait for me, it's been eight years since I played my last World Cup, so it's been something I've wanted for so long and to have it not work out at the last second really hurts," said Latu.
"I need to just step away and reassess where I want to go. I need to find the spark and I guess get the love for the game back in my heart again so I can carry on."
Latu is yet to re-commit to the Mystics for next year's ANZ Championship.
With her partner Jim Tuivaiti moving to Italy next month to take up a rugby contract, the 24-test Silver Fern had initially planned to reassess things after the World Cup.
Those decisions have now been pushed forward, but Latu said it is still too soon to make any calls.
"It's a conversation my partner and I are going to have to have over the next few weeks," she said.
Consistently the most accurate shooter in the transtasman league, Latu is struggling to comprehend her non-selection in the Ferns' World Cup team.
She accepts she wasn't at her best during trials, with a poor showing against Australian skipper Laura Geitz in the Mystics' semifinal loss to the Firebirds a couple of weeks earlier still playing on her mind.
But she believes she was probably also casualty of the Ferns' poor performances against Australia last season, with the selectors forced to try new things.
"You're only as good as your last game, and that game was a really tough one for me. So that had kind of been lingering over me and, in all honesty, effected the way I trialled. In hindsight, that's something I do need to look at - the ability to let things go I suppose," she said.
"I guess [the selectors] felt they had to take some risks and take a leap of faith on some new players, and that's something that may or may not have been out of my control.
"Like I said, my performances at trials might have cost me, but I would have liked to think there were a few years of footage that show I do actually know what I'm doing."
Despite her devastation at being overlooked for the squad, Latu readily agreed to make herself available for the NZA team for a series on practice matches against the visiting international sides in Sydney for next month's tournament.
She said although right now she can't stand the sight of a goal post, she knows she would have regretted spending next month on the couch feeling sorry for herself.
For the moment though, she is allowing herself a bit time to come to terms with Wednesday night's shattering news.
"The support has been quite overwhelming and very humbling and it is kind of firing me up a little bit faster than I thought I would. You know, two days ago I thought this was the end of my life and I'm going to stay in the house for the next three weeks and not see anyone.
"It's still going take some time, but I'm dealing with it better than I expected."
