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Diamonds head coach Stacey Marinkovich’s 50th match in charge was marred by a second straight loss to New Zealand in the 2024 Constellation Cup netball series.
A fired-up Silver Ferns, playing in Auckland on Wednesday night, set up an 11-goal, 63-52 victory.
The Silver Ferns won their first Test, on Sunday 64-50 in Wellington.
Netball Australia (NA) says both teams worked in overdrive to produce the turnover ball that just wasn’t coming.
A run of five goals midway through the first quarter gave the Ferns the upper hand headed into the first break with great speed down the court making it hard to stop Player of the Match Grace Nweke in the air.
Life didn’t get any easier for the Diamonds in the second quarter as the pressure mounted, a NA statement said.
The Ferns’ rhythm and energy made them hard to challenge as the ball speed down the court gave the Diamonds defence no chance to turn over the ball.
Trailing by 10 goals at half-time, the Diamonds came out strong and went goal-for-goal early.
Sophie Dwyer scored a couple of deflections to her name and formed a solid combination with Sophie Garbin.
Hesitance on the feed into the goal circle troubled the Diamonds attack, which allowed the Ferns to get their hands to the ball and shoot back up the court to Nweke.
With defensive rotations aplenty, the Diamonds worked in overdrive to slow down the court craft and reduce the scoreline, according to the statement.
The final term unfortunately saw much of the same with the Diamonds able to score continuously off their centre pass but unable to reduce the scoreline.
With a 0-2 record as they return to Australian soil this week, the Diamonds will look to repeat some recent history to overturn the deficit.
The Diamonds and Ferns will go head-to-head on Sunday in Perth for the third Test.
