Silver Ferns at phenomenal best against Diamonds

There is beating the Australian Diamonds.

Then there is beating the Diamonds by 14 goals, leading at every break and forcing them to empty their bench in a bid to find the answers.

But there was simply no solution for the Silver Ferns, who were at their very best in their 64-50 win in front of a sold-out crowd in Wellington tonight.

It was a phenomenal full-court effort from the Silver Ferns to beat the world champions and win the first game of the Constellation Cup series.

The Diamonds drought on New Zealand soil continues — the visitors have not won in New Zealand since 2021.

They looked rattled, made uncharacteristic mistakes and the Silver Ferns punished them.

Southern Steel captain Kate Heffernan was outstanding.

She was everywhere defensively, brought the ball through the court to let the attackers focus on their own roles and, perhaps the most telling, she kept a usually dominant Diamonds’ captain Liz Watson quiet.

She stole an intercept from the Diamonds centre pass in the final quarter that brought the Silver Ferns bench to their feet.

Heffernan helped the Silver Ferns take the first lead.

She picked up an intercept with 30sec to go to level the scores and then the Silver Ferns led 17-16 at the end of the first quarter.

The Silver Ferns looked long first, putting more depth on the pass into the pocket and split the feeds.

Karin Burger chased down the loose ball and Heffernan bombed the ball into Nweke to lead by five.

Looking for answers, Cara Koenen came on at goal shoot for the Diamonds but it did little to stop the Silver Ferns roll.

The Diamonds were forced into mistakes, coughing up short passes and silly errors.

Kiera Austin’s radar went missing and the Diamonds attack end became rattled.

The Silver Ferns pressure was immense, tagging everything, and Nweke just continued to put the ball through the hoop.

It was without a doubt one of the Silver Ferns’ best quarters in recent memory and gave them a 34-25 lead at the break.

The Diamonds rang the changes to start the third quarter.

Sophie Dwyer came on at goal attack, Price moved into centre and Kate Moloney came on at wing defence.

The Silver Ferns ball speed slowed slightly in the third, but compared to previous games where they have let it go, they treasured possession.

Ameliaranne Ekenasio put up a couple of sweet long shots, a sign that she is prepared to go to the post more.

The Diamonds timing looked sharp, using swing balls to open the triangles.

They made sure of the small gains and pulled the lead score back 42-36.

The Diamonds used a zone to pressure the Silver Ferns through the middle.

But Silver Ferns, who failed to punch through when England applied a zone, learnt from their mistakes and worked it through.

It was an indication of the growth this group has made in the past month.

The Diamonds closed the gap to five until Gordon snaffled the ball on the circle edge.

The Silver Ferns refused to let the Diamonds come back and owned the final 10 minutes.

Jamie-Lee Price played her 50th test for the Diamonds.