KEY POINTS:
The tiniest player in the shortest basketball team at the Olympics, New Zealander Angela Marino, made a giant statement as the Tall Ferns exited with their heads held high.
A campaign that exposed a lack of experience and height ended with high fives and excited chatter after New Zealand went down to the United States juggernaut.
It was the closest that any team has pushed the gold medal favourites, leading 15-14 late in the first quarter and losing the final stanza just 18-21.
Horribly outclassed, the New Zealanders hustled stars like Lisa Leslie to the point of annoyance, the American forward long-regarded as the world's premier woman player fouled for lashing out churlishly at the head of New Zealand captain Aneka Kerr.
New Zealand's standards only slumped in the second quarter, which they lost 6-27.
Marino failed to score in that period as the New Zealand offence stalled but she was brilliant for the rest of the match, scoring a game-high 17 points and constantly probing to the basket and creating space.
It was her best performance in a fine tournament, finishing the 12-team group phase as the fourth top scorer with 16 points per game and third in the three-point shooting statistics.
The Waiuku-born, Australian-raised point guard made her New Zealand debut soon before the Athens Olympics and shone even then as an 18-year-old when the team reached the quarter-finals.
"I would have loved to go further in this competition too but I'm really proud of the girls," said Marino.
"I think if this team stays together we can do great things in the future."
She singled out three of New Zealand's better performers last night - Jillian Harmon, Lisa Wallbutton and Jessica McCormack - as potentially forming the core of future Tall Ferns campaigns.
"None of us is older than 22 so in four years that's a really strong lineup. An experience like playing USA can only be good for us and hopefully that will show."
The development of 1.94m centre McCormack will be crucial as the 18-year-old is the only player with anything like the height needed to match the leading nations.
After beating Malawi 76-72 in their Olympic opener, NZ simply lacked the size to live with Spain, China and the Czech Republic.
- NZPA
