Silver Ferns coach Janine Southby says basic errors cost her side dearly in last night's 68-56 loss to the Australian Diamonds.
Silver Ferns coach Janine Southby Photo: Photosport
Look back at how the match unfolded here.
The hosts have taken a one-nil lead in the four-match Constellation Cup series after a clinical display in Sydney.
New Zealand opened the scoring off the first center pass but Australia then netted nine unanswered goals to put the Ferns on the back foot from the start.
Southby said she was particularly disappointed with her side's attacking efforts.
"We know that you can't just expect to stand and get the ball, you've got to actually do the work and that's something we've talked about and not put it into action is disappointing.
"We were also pretty sloppy on our through court defense tonight, we didn't put enough pressure on the Australians and at times it did go through pretty fast and that puts our circle defenders under a lot of pressure," Southby said.
The Ferns three shooters combined to make 56 of 67 attempts while Australia missed just four of their 72 shots.
Australia's 68 goals matched their record for highest goals scored against New Zealand which they did four years ago.
Australia's shooter Caitlin Bassett again proved too good for the Ferns, landing 47 goals.
Bailey Mes top scored for New Zealand with 28, but committed eight turnovers under pressure from the irrepressible Sharni Layton.
"They took the game by the throat from the very first whistle and we were very slow to start, so we' have to have a very good look at that," New Zealand coach Janine Southby said.
"At times we strung together some good plays but it wasn't consistent enough, so overall (I'm) pretty disappointed."
The second match in the four test series is in Tasmania on Wednesday.
-RNZ
