Clearly dominant in the opening three quarters, the Gliders were ahead 33-26 with a term remaining but their amazing defensive performances in the previous games didn’t materialise and missed free-throws down the stretch proved costly.

“We played incredibly good defence for most of the game but we let ourselves down with poor free-throw shooting in the second half,” Head Coach Gerry Hewson said.

Leisl Tesch was outstanding for the Gliders, netting a game-high 19 points while Kylie Gauci (8 points) and Sarah Stewart (6 points) chipped in at the offensive end.

The Gliders were without influential starter Shelley Chaplin (shoulder) who has replaced in the starting line-up by Cobi Crispin who slotted in perfectly.

The Gliders took it to the Germans at both ends of the floor from the outset and established an 18-12 quarter time lead before going into the main break up 26-22.

Tesch was the star, hitting 16 points in the first half while the team shot at 43% from the field.

Germany found themselves in foul trouble early in the third quarter but the Gliders couldn’t capitalise and make a bigger impact on the score board but still lead 33-26 with a stanza to go.

A 6-0 German run to start the last immediately closed the gap and from there the Germans took control and finished six-point winners.

Australia 41 (Tesch 19, Gauci 8, Stewart 6) lost to
Germany 47 (Zeyen 10, Kues 9, Mohren 9)

Qrt 1 AUS 18 – GER 12
Qrt 2 AUS 26 (8) – GER 22 (10)
Qrt 3 AUS 33 (7) – GER 26 (4)
Qrt 4 AUS 41 (8) – GER 47 (21)