Basketball: Tall Ferns dunked by Spain

9.40am - By JENNI RUTHERFORD

ATHENS - The New Zealand women's basketball team couldn't find the winning formula against a Spanish side that were also experiencing an Olympic Games for only their second time.

After creating New Zealand history by winning a preliminary round match against Korea on Monday, the Tall Ferns couldn't repeat the feat losing 57-91 in their third group B game today.

The 33 point drubbing was their second after losing by 52 to the US in their opening match.

The Tall Ferns never fully recovered from a horror start in the first quarter.

Spain went on 26-2 point-scoring run which killed New Zealand's chances in the first five minutes.

New Zealand were down 32-8 by the end of the period and were facing a near impossible task to get back into the game.

The Tall Ferns fought back to win the second quarter 21-45 easing their deficit to 16 points to trail 29-45 at halftime.

New Zealand's shots began to count and after a first period where almost nothing would fall, the Tall Ferns luck began to change.

But there was no stopping a tidy Spanish outfit though. Their speed and ability to get inside the New Zealand defence proved too much, while the Tall Ferns managed just nine points in the third quarter to Spain's 20.

The fourth period was merely a formality as Spain's lead blew out to over 30 points in the early stages.

Angela Marino was New Zealand's top scorer with 21 points followed by forward Donna Loffhagen with 16 points and eight rebounds and Gina Farmer made 14 points. Laia Palau was Spain's best pointscorer with 15 points and Nuria Martinez and Madariaga Valdemoro also made double figures.

Spain made their first appearance at an Olympics at Barcelona in 1992 when they were entered as the host nation. They qualified for these Olympics as the bronze medallists at the European championships held here last year.

The Tall Ferns are fifth on the group standings ahead of Korea who are yet to record a win in the tournament.

Score: Spain 91 (L Palau 15, N Martinez 14, M Valdemoro 10) New Zealand 57 (A Marino 21, D Loffhagen 16, G Farmer 14).

Halftime: 45-29

- NZPA