Bassett strikes back in Diamonds victory

Oct 5, 2017 - 4:00 PM It's the revenge of the C-Bass.

So used to owning her shooting circle, rangy Australian skipper Caitlin Bassett met her match in Kiwi defensive ace Kelly Jury during last month's trans-Tasman Quad Series decider - so much so, she was benched after halftime.

Yet the star Diamonds goal shooter has struck back.

Playing slightly further off the post than usual, the 29-year-old Bassett condemned Jury to her own bench stint in Thursday's 57-54 Constellation Cup win.

With the 192cm Jury's long limbs still presenting an obstacle, Australian goal attacks Susan Pettitt and Stephanie Wood picked up some of the slack, scoring a combined 18 goals in the Auckland Test.

Bassett nevertheless made her mark, hitting the net 39 times and forcing Kiwi coach Janine Southby to shuffle her deck.

Jury was subbed for the gritty Temalisi Fakahokotau just before half-time.

"Our midcourters were fantastic, they definitely make my job easier when they're getting the ball moving and getting our ball on circle edge," Bassett said.

"Both Stephanie and Susan did an amazing job as well.

"We know playing in New Zealand is tough - to get a win, not just against this team but in this environment, it's great for us."

Having torn into her troops after their 57-47 loss to the Ferns in Invercargill, Australia coach Lisa Alexander was slightly more pleased with Thursday's performance.

She still felt her side were patchy across the 60 minutes, having almost thrown away their advantage in the fourth quarter.

Only wastefulness prevented a fast-finishing Ferns from staging a comeback.

Alexander said her side had plenty to work on heading into Sunday's second Test in Christchurch, followed by home Tests in Adelaide and Sydney.

"The intent, the effort was definitely there for the whole game - we just had a few little hiccups here and there," Alexander said.

"We started off really well and were really creative, smart with our play.

"Defensively, the chances that were there (for us), we grabbed them and weren't as out-of-the-play as we'd been - we worked hard on that."

Source: AAP