Pahlyss Hokianga-Heather drives to the hoop during the Tall Ferns game against Montenegro Photo: FIBA
The Tall Ferns gave a up a second quarter lead going down to Montenegro in their opening match at the Basketball World Cup pre-qualifiers in Mexico.
After holding a 21-16 lead early in the second quarter, New Zealand eventually went down 64-88.
The New Zealanders were led by Ritorya Tamilo who scored 11 points and six rebounds while Penina Davidson also scored 11 points.
The game also saw four Tall Ferns make their debuts: Bailey Flavell, Ashlee Strawbridge, Ella Tofaeono and Charlotte Whittaker.
Statistically, Montenegro won the game not just with their shooting and offensive rebounding (16 boards, leading to a 19-8 advantage in second chance points), but also with a solid defensive effort.
They forced the Tall Ferns into 25 turnovers - which they directly turned into 33 points.
Following the game, Tall Ferns head coach Natalie Hurst said the side needed to learn from their mistakes and quickly with their next game against the hosts Mexico on Thursday.
"This was our first run as a group together; so credit to Montenegro, they came out and pressured us from the start, and obviously they shot the ball very well," said Hurst.
"We need to be tougher, we need to guard the three point line a little better, and our communication was not where it needs to be tonight. So they're three key areas that we need to fix up pretty quickly."
Davidson said the team will need to focus on the next challenge.
"We got punched in the face first up; it's pretty hard to take - but it's pretty hard to win a game when the other team scores that many points and we only score 64. But it's a good lesson for us and we've got two pretty good opportunities coming up [to win]."