Silver Fern Grace Nweke shoots for goal during the 2023 Constellation Cup. Photo: AAP / www.photosport.nz
The Silver Ferns kept their hopes of regaining the Constellation Cup alive with a 56-53 win over Australia in Invercargill on Thursday night.
It was New Zealand's first win of the four match series after Australia had dominated the first two games on their home court.
The Silver Ferns temporarily had a lead early in the first quarter until Australia found their rhythm and ended the quarter with a 14-10 lead.
New Zealand fought back in the second quarter and went on a run of nine unanswered goals keeping the visitors scoreless for nearly six minutes and forcing the Diamonds to make player changes.
The Silver Ferns outscored the Diamonds 18-10 in the second quarter as goal shooter Grace Nweke continued to be a reliable presence under the hoop to take a 28-24 lead at halftime.
Nweke, who only recently returned to court from an injury that ruled her out of the world cup, was substituted part way through the third quarter as she is on limited playing minutes to ease her back into competition.
Youngster Amelia Walmsley came on to replace Nweke and put in a solid performance.
Meanwhile midcourter Jamie-Lee Price's introduction made a difference for the Australians in the third quarter as they took a 42-40 lead.
In the final quarter, player of the match goalkeeper Kelly Jury troubled the Australian shooting circle as she disrupted the flow and forced them in to uncharacteristic turnovers as she deflected a lot of ball.
Silver Ferns captain Ameliaranne Ekenasio described the match as a "hard fought win".
"It's really cool to finally feel like what we're doing is working in the games and that's all we really need to push through and know that we can do it," Ekenasio told Sky Sport.
"We've got some young girls out there and we're still really trying to find our way, it's almost a bit of everybody takes a turn to make a bit of a mistake. It's something we've been working so hard on but it's just taking a while to really click."
Coach Dame Noeline Taurua agreed and told Sky Sport to beat the world champions was good for her side but she still wanted more.
"It's quite frustrating, without being disrespectful I thought we could have been a bit better out there on court," she said.
New Zealand's victory at ILT Stadium Southland - renamed Robyn Broughton Stadium in memory of the former Silver Ferns coach who died last month - halted Australia's six game winning streak over the Silver Ferns which dated back to October last year.
The final, and deciding, match of the series is in Auckland on Monday.
If the Silver Ferns win on Monday the winner of the Constellation Cup will be decided on goal difference across the series.
