The New Zealand Tall Ferns are in China playing in a friendly tournament in preparation for their bid for a spot in the Olympics.
The trip got off to a bad start. It took the Tall Ferns more than two days to get to China, due to weather delays. At one point, Jillian tweeted, "Still stuck on the plane on the runway. 7 hours and counting."
They finally arrived less than 24 hours before their first game against China. Although they lost by six points, they were pleased with their performance. Jillian scored 12 points in this game.
The next game, against Australia's Emerging Opals – players not on the Olympic squad – was a different story. The Tall Ferns lost again, but their coach deemed this game the worst performance he had ever seen from the team. Jillian had a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Coach Kereama demanded a drastically improved effort for the next game, and the Tall Ferns came through with a win over Angola, the African champion. There is no report of Jillian's contribution.
The four teams will play another round before the Tall Ferns head for Turkey and the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in two weeks.
Here are reports of the three games:
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