By SHARON LUNDY
KINGSTON, Jamaica - New Zealand today broke the century mark in a performance that left the Cook Islands on the receiving end of a 107-17 hiding at the World Netball Championships.
It was the highest score of the championships to date, eclipsing the Silver Ferns' 99-11 win over Niue
on Sunday.
The Silver Ferns' strongest seven took the court for the first quarter, totally outclassing the Cooks from the first whistle.
Irene van Dyk lined up at goal shoot, Belinda Colling goal attack, captain Anna Rowberry wing attack, Temepara Clark centre, Lesley Nicol wing defence, Sheryl Clarke goal defence and Vilimaina Davu goal keep.
A stunned Cook Islands had no answer to the onslaught as the New Zealanders combined to snatch every loose ball, grab endless intercepts and get down the court and into the circle with only a handful of passes.
The Silver Ferns worked as a team but individuals also grabbed their chance to shine -- Clarke got an elusive tip as Cooks goal shoot Curly George put up a shot and followed up to secure the turnover, while van Dyk pulled in some seemingly impossible feeds and converted them.
With her team ahead 28-4 after 15 minutes, Silver Ferns coach Ruth Aitken brought on Tania Dalton at goal attack and Adine Harper at wing attack.
The changes brought no slowing in the momentum, the Cooks failing to get a goal for 7-1/2 minutes.
The huge defensive pressure from Clarke and Davu told on George and goal attack Lorna Walker, who struggled to convert their rare attempts at goal.
New Zealand more than doubled their first quarter but kept the Cooks to only two goals, finishing the first half 60-6 ahead.
Aitken again made changes at halftime, putting Anna Scarlett into goal defence and moving Clarke to wing defence.
Cooks Islands coach Elizabeth Pou tried to stem the tide with several changes, including moving centre Luciana Matenga to goal shoot. Matenga converted within 30 seconds and helped her team to double their score during the third quarter.
New Zealand's scoring rate slowed slightly while the new combination settled but they continued to pile on the pressure to go into the final 15 minutes 87-12 up.
Jodi Te Huna took the court at goal shoot for the final 15 minutes -- her second cap -- while Nicol returned to wing defence.
Aitken will be pleased with the result ahead of tomorrow's first challenging game of the tournament for her team, against England (12.30pm NZT). The Cooks lost to England 22-90 yesterday.
Silver Ferns coach Ruth Aitken said the performance had lifted despite the lack of opposition.
"It's a good feeling and I felt it was a great performance.
"One-hundred wasn't a goal for us, we just wanted to make improvements from our game yesterday, which we did," she said.
Aitken rotated her squad to keep them fresh for tomorrow's clash with England, with defender Leana du Plooy the only player not to get court time.
Captain Anna Rowberry was among those to take a rest as the points piled up, and was happy with the improvement.
"We were a lot sharper on attack and we got a lot more ball on defence so it was a more solid effort tonight," Rowberry said.
- NZPA
By SHARON LUNDY
KINGSTON, Jamaica - New Zealand today broke the century mark in a performance that left the Cook Islands on the receiving end of a 107-17 hiding at the World Netball Championships.
It was the highest score of the championships to date, eclipsing the Silver Ferns' 99-11 win over Niue
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