A huge defensive play off the final centrepass has seen the Silver Ferns snatch a 59-58 win over Aotearoa Men at Wellington, clinching victory in their three-game series with a game to play.
After a contest where momentum swung one way and then the other, the NZ women had their noses ahead over the final moments and rookie goal attack Tiana Metuarau put them a goal ahead with 41 seconds to play.
But from the ensuing restart, centre Nick Grimmer could not find his goal attack Daniel Jeffries - well covered by Ferns defender Karin Burger - and the ball floated over the sideline.
The Ferns overcame some midcourt confusion to retain possession and wind down the clock on their hard-fought result - their third straight win over the males, dating back to last year.
"I'm definitely very impressed that we could hold out the game like that," admits Ferns captain Gina Crampton. "It was a grind again for us, but the smarts at the end was very impressive from our side."
After their 59-48 win in the series opener, the women now hold an unassailable lead, with the third and final encounter scheduled for Tuesday night at Wellington.
After falling seven goals behind over the opening quarter 24 hours earlier, the Ferns were determined to improve their start and built a five-goal lead over the initial period.
Teenage shooter Grace Nweke, who was instrumental in the first-game turnaround, earned the start this time and continued to torment her markers under goal, as her teammates figured out how to feed her.
But unlike their first outing, when they fell away alarmingly in the second quarter, the men - a squad pulled together at the last minute, as COVID-19 lockdown kept many of their stars at home - showed the benefits of another day together.
They stormed back to hold a one-goal advantage at halftime, with 2.04m Jay Geldard shooting perfectly.
"We had some silly errors, some breaking and also the final execution of some passes," says Crampton. "I guess I gave a couple too quick and we needed to change the timing coming down the court at pace."
The Ferns regain the advantage with an 18-16 third quarter and held their nerve down the home straight to steal a result that could have gone either way - or to extra time.
Geldard finished with 44/44 shooting, while Nweke slotted 30/36 for the women.
Ferns coach Dame Noeline Taurau had an opportunity to field her rookie attack combination of Nweke and Metuarau, which crumbled in their few minutes together against England last month, before the latter left with injury.
Metuarau missed the opening game of this series, but showed enough poise over the final two quarters to suggest this might be a circle pairing that will serve New Zealand well for many years go come.
Crampton missed much of the England series with injury, but logged another 30 minutes, after three quarters in the opener.
NZ 59 (Nweke 30/36, Metuarau 17/21, Wilson 12/16) Aotearoa Men 58 (Geldard 45/45, Jeffries 13/16)
Join us at 7pm Tuesday for live updates of the third Silver Ferns v Aotearoa Men encounter
