SHENZHEN (China) - New Zealand simply played smart and got rewarded in the form of a 78-71 victory over the Philippines to finish 5th in the FIBA Women's Asia Cup 2025, Saturday at the Shenzhen Sports Center.
The Tall Ferns actually blew an early 16-point lead and found themselves staring at a 63-57 deficit barely two minutes into the fourth, but snapped back and played to their strengths to eventually avert disaster.
With their edge in size, the crew went inside for higher-percentage shots and ran the floor as well, leading to a critical 11-0 run - capped by an Emilia Shearer three-point play - to retake the lead, 76-68, with 2:04 left.
Gilas Women would never recover and could only watch the opposition erupt into celebration as the final buzzer rang as they lost steam in the endgame, thus settling for a sixth-place finish for the second time in a row.
Regardless, both teams are already headed for the bigger battle ahead that is the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026 Qualifying Tournaments in March after finishing among the top six teams of the ongoing meet.
"The fact that we could hang together for 40 minutes when a lot wasn't going our way but we can stay together and grind out a win, I'm just super proud of how the girls did that today," offered head coach Natalie Hurst.
Esra McGoldrick, foul trouble and all, led New Zealand with 17 points and 7 rebounds, with her bucket inside off a Rebecca Pizzey dime with 36.4 seconds left serving as the dagger as it gave them the 78-69 lead.
Shearer tallied 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists. McKenna Dale made 11 points and 7 rebounds, while Pizzey nearly had a double-double with 6 points and 10 rebounds as they all put together the aforementioned rally.
Pizzey herself triggered the run with a perfect trip to the free throw line, before Shearer came through with a layup to give themselves the lead for good at 69-68 with 3:51 remaining in the match.
Dale then added on to the cushion with a short jumper from close range, with McGoldrick joining in the fray before Shearer punched in a tough layup off the break amidst the foul before nailing the bonus to cap it off.
"We stayed together really well as a team," said Shearer, whose team overcame a sub-par shooting day with only a 37.8-percent clip and 18 turnovers through poise plus rebounding, which they won via big margin, 66-35.
Vanessa De Jesus, meanwhile, led the Philippines with 16 points in the loss. Khate Castillo made 14 points behind four three-pointers, while Naomi Panganiban and Sumayah Sugapong added 11 points apiece.
FIBA