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HISTORY & TRAD.
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Purcell Shines for New Zealand in Olympic Opener
Aug. 10, 2008
BEIJING, CHINA - (Friday, August 8, 2008) - Former Redhawks women's basketball player Natalie Purcell played a key role in New Zealand's opening day victory over Mali during the first day of the Olympic Women's Basketball tournament. Purcell contributed five points and six rebounds in the Tall Ferns 76-72 come-from-behind victory at the Beijing Olympic Basketball Gymnasium. Purcell made her presence felt immediately after coming off the bench as replacing her older sister Charmian Purcell at the 5:05 mark of the first quarter. With her team trailing 14-6 against Mali (0-1) she helped spark a 12-2 run that put her team ahead. Trailing 14-8, Purcell recorded her first rebound of the game and later scored on lay-up to cut the lead to four. She later made a three-pointer at the 1:10 mark of the first quarter to give the Tall Ferns their first lead, 17-16. She recorded two rebounds in the quarter.
In the third quarter she added two more rebounds. In the fourth quarter she again recorded two rebounds including two of her team-high three offensive rebounds. With the score tied 66-66 with 3:33 remaining Purcell recorded a crucial steal from Hamchetou Maiga, who is considered the best player in Africa, to stop a Mali scoring run. With the score tied late in the final quarter, the Tall Ferns made two clutch three-pointers in the final two minutes to secure the victory. Angela Marino led the Tall Ferns with a game-high 19 points. Maiga led Mali with 18 points. Purcell was the team's second-leading rebounder, finishing behind Jillian Harmon's (Stanford University) eight rebounds. Purcell went 2-4 from the floor in 20 minutes. Her sister Charmian finished with two points and two rebounds. Despite Mali shooting 47-percent to their 34-percent, the Tall Ferns lived up their nickname as the out-rebounded Mali 19-9 on the offensive end. The Tall Ferns continue with Pool B play with a match-up with Spain on Monday, August 11.
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