After a short stint playing in the United States, Bendigo Spirit MVP Anneli Maley returned home to Australia to make her debut with the Opals on Tuesday night.
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The national women's squad went down 69-67 to Japan in Newcastle to lose their three-match friendly series, however, Maley made a promising debut which saw her finish with 11 points and seven rebounds after coming off the bench after four-and-a-half minutes.
Maley scored her first international points after just two seconds of court time.
It was a typical hustle play as she pounced on a missed free throw from Blicavs, grabbing the rebound and scoring from close range.
"I wish we got the win but they are a really talented team Japan and for my first Opals experience to be playing against a team like that was really special," Maley told ESPN.
"I don't know any of the offences, I haven't been in camp, and everyone talked me through every step of the way."
She scored seven points in the first quarter which finished with Australia holding a 23-18 lead.
It was a third straight nail-biter with Australia winning the first game by six and Japan squaring the series with a one-point victory in game two.
A youthful Opals side, without several stars who were playing for overseas clubs, showed plenty of grit against a Japan team that contained a number of last year's Olympic silver medal-winning squad.
The visiting team made a decisive 8-0 run in the fourth quarter during which Australia went more than five minutes without scoring, missing six field-goal attempts in that time.
Cayla George hit a three pointer with 28 seconds to go to cut Japan's lead to two but Australia couldn't get another shot off before the end.
Forward Sara Blicavs top-scored for Australia for the second straight game tallying 15 while George contributed 14, making both her three-point shots.
Bendigo Braves' Tess Madgen was also on court for the Opals and received praise from coach Cheryl Chambers for her consistent, never-say-die effort.
"The consistency of Sarah Blicavs was good, Cayla George was good, Tess Madgen was strong through the whole lot."
Australia will play Canada and Puerto Rico in America in July in two lead-up games to the world championships.
With AAP
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