Beck wheeling and dealing for Tall Ferns

JCU Townsville Fire recruit Stella Beck has guided New Zealand to back-to-back wins at the William Jones Cup.

Having earned a re-call to the Tall Ferns following her impressive QBL form for Townsville, the 22-year-old, who will debut for the Fire this summer, has been ultra-impressive in Taiwan.

Beck finished with 12 points, seven assists and three steals during the Tall Ferns’ 114-39 rout of India in the tournament opener.

The former St Mary’s College star then led the Tall Ferns to a 93-74 victory over South Korea last night.

Once again Beck stuffed the stat sheet as she posted eight points, four rebounds and 11 assists navigating the team around the court.

New Zealand are scheduled to meet Chinese Taipei this evening hoping to keep their unblemished record intact.

Meanwhile, Australia is through to the quarter-finals of the Under-17 World Cup in Belarus after ending New Zealand’s medal ambitions with a 77-37 victory in the knockout rounds.

The Chemist Warehouse Sapphires will now face Italy, who they beat in the final of the 2016 competition, in the quarter-finals from 11.30pm tonight.

Unbeaten through the pool phase, the Sapphires made lightwork of their Trans Tasman rivals, with the Fire’s Alex Fowler putting the clamps on at the defensive end.

Fowler finished the contest with two points, three rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks.

A win against Italy tonight will propel the Sapphires into the medal rounds.