End of an excellent adventure

New Zealand saved their best basketball until last at the Olympic games. They were beaten, but far from disgraced, in a 96-60 loss to the USA.

Jillian was a standout performer, a key figure in negating the athleticism of the US with some serious defensive hustle. She had the game-high seven rebounds. She thought, "It was a pretty exciting opportunity. Most of us grew up watching these girls. I think I was 10 years old when Lisa Leslie played in her first Olympics. It was a good experience. We played pretty well, all things considered."

Coach McHugh was delighted with the Tall Ferns' play, "We stood up, we fought and the poise we played with against possibly the best team in the world... I'm just really proud."

Here are the game report and the box score.

Here are some clips from an audio slide show of a Tall Ferns' practice session in Beijing:

and from the NBC game video:

The Tall Ferns did not attend the Olympic opening ceremony, opting instead to prepare for their game against Mali the next morning, but they will stay in Beijing through the end of the games and participate in the closing ceremonies.

So ends Jillian and Clare's excellent adventure!