BENGALURU (FIBA Women's Asia Cup 2017) - New Zealand rallied in the second half to turn the tables and slip past Chinese Taipei, 59-53, on Day 2 of the Women's Asia Cup.

The Tall Ferns came out of the gates really slow, scoring just 7 points in the fist quarter and still falling behind by double-digits at the halftime break, but they cranked up their play in the second half, outscoring Chinese Taipei, 35-18, to spark their stirring comeback.

Small forward Kalani Purcell lit up the game with 22 points, tossing in 16 in the Kiwis' second half surge. She also added 13 rebounds and 4 assists to her sublime line, while also getting a ton of help from veterans Micaela Cocks and Jillian Harmon, who tallied 12 and 15 points respectively.

On the other end, Taipei was paced by Bao Hsi-Le's 12 points, although nobody else broke into double-figure scoring. Taipei lacked the effort on the glass, losing the rebounding battle, 54-32. Bao and her teammates squandered a 17-point lead in the loss.

New Zealand now finish second in Group A, while Chinese Taipei are locked in at third place even if DPR Korea are able to upset China tonight.

FIBA