Karin Burger of New Zealand takes a loose ball against England. Photo / Photosport
Karin Burger of New Zealand takes a loose ball against England. Photo / Photosport
Silver Ferns 62 England 47
The Silver Ferns have made it three from three to close the Taini Jamison Trophy series undefeated against the England Roses.
Following two rather underwhelming wins earlier in the week, the world champions put out a performance worthy of praise in Hamilton to claim a 62-47 victory.
Intercepts and turnovers set the stage for a back-and-forth first quarter in which the Ferns managed a slim lead, with Ferns defender Kelly Jury producing a strong performance in her first start of the series.
She put her 1.92m height to use defending Southern Steel recruit George Fisher, who often struggled to get the ball over Jury's reach when shooting.
Ferns shooters Maia Wilson and Ameliaranne Ekenasio were on form, not missing an attempt until the end of the second quarter, though a lack of clean ball from their feeders kept them from opening up a more decisive lead.
England's Razia Quashie and Silver Ferns shooter Maia Wilson fight for the ball. Photo / Photosport
Both coaches - Dame Noeline Taurua and Kat Ratnapala - initially refrained from making changes as the game settled back into a goal-for-goal contest. But as has been the trend, Ratnapala looked to her bench late in the second quarter to put Yasmin Parsons on at wing attack in place of Laura Malcolm, and Eleanor Cardwell at goal shoot over Fisher.
The Roses struggled to find connection after the switch, allowing the Ferns to pull ahead to a seven-goal halftime lead.
Ratnapala reshuffled again after the break, implementing five changes in a desperate bid to close the gap, but the Roses midcourt missed the experience of 100-cap veteran and co-captain Serena Guthrie, who was sidelined with an ankle injury. 21-year-old Amy Carter was instead left to carry the centre bib in just her sixth outing in the red dress.
Meanwhile, the Ferns continued with much cleaner play than seen in the first half. Midcourters Claire Kersten and Whitney Souness read the circle space well to execute sharp feeds to their shooters, while Jury continued to interfere England's play in partnership with Jane Watson. The pair picked up a number of turnovers to keep the Roses at bay.
With the game nearly sealed, Monica Falkner was awarded her second test cap with nine minutes remaining. She went on to slot her first goal almost on the buzzer as an ecstatic Claudelands Arena crowd cheered her on.
The Silver Ferns will head into one more team-building camp this week before stepping off the court for the year.
Their next outing is expected to be a postponed Constellation Cup against the Australian Diamonds in January.
