TAIPEI (FIBA Women's Asia Cup 2017) - New Zealand have left Taiwan in a positive frame of mind after beating Japan to finish their William Jones Cup campaign with four victories and just one defeat.

While the Kiwis did not beat a full-strength Japanese team but rather one consisting of university and fringe-national team players, the 75-72 triumph capped an impressive tournament for the Tall Ferns.

Japan had not lost before they faced New Zealand.

It was a truly competitive game, a game of good execution for both teams at both end's of the court," New Zealand coach Kennedy Kereama said.

Micaela Cocks, one of the country's Olympic players from the 2008 Games, was in fine fettle against the Far East side.

Although we have a lot of experience, we have a lot of debutants as well, and we were very pleased with the performance of our veterans, as well as our younger players.

Kereama

She finished with 27 points and 5 rebounds. New Zealand needed all of her contributions because the contest was not decided until the very end.

"It’s always good to have really close games, because going into the World Cup Qualifiers (Asia Cup), that's how we're going to get better," Cocks said.

The Tall Ferns know that a very difficult FIBA Women's Asia Cup campaign awaits them and it starts in just 11 days. Kereama is stressing the positives.

"Although we have a lot of experience, we have a lot of debutants as well, and we were very pleased with the performance of our veterans, as well as our younger players," he said.

"For us, it was a very successful tournament, but we'll make some adjustments, and, of course, we've got lots of improvement to make."

FIBA