Lauren Jackson continue her injury comeback by guiding Australia into next year's world basketball championships in Turkey with an 84-66 win over New Zealand in Canberra.
The trans-Tasman rivals met for the second leg of the Oceania championship at the AIS Arena on Sunday after Australia won the first encounter by 16 points in Auckland mid-week.
Australia, the world No.2, were hot favourites going into the match with a roster that included four players who won bronze at last year's London Olympics and they looked comfortable throughout as they secured the world titles berth on offer.
Superstar Jackson, who starred in Wednesday's win, took a while to warm up in just her second game back since last year's season-ending hamstring injury.
She made just 38 per cent of her shots in the first half for seven points.
But her true class emerged after the main break, finishing the game with a team-high 21 points and seven rebounds.
"I don't think I played well, but I'm feeling good," the Opals co-captain said.
"It's going to take time for me to get back into the flow, but to be honest I feel like this is a good start."
Guard Belinda Snell was superb for the Opals, scoring 17 points alongside four assists and two steals.
The Tall Ferns kept in touch throughout the first two quarters, co-captain Toni Edmondson finishing with a game-high 26 points.
Micaela Cocks also produced for the visitors with 25 points and nine rebounds.
Australia, up 39-34 at half-time, shot out in front at the beginning of the third quarter with 13 straight points.
It mirrored Wednesday's early third quarter blitz when they put on 11 unanswered points.
"There were a lot of nerves in the team and we needed the break to think about what we were doing wrong and how we were going to rectify it," Jackson said.
Tall Ferns coach Kennedy Kerama lamented his side's fade out early in the third quarter.
"We can obviously play two first halves of basketball and match it with the Australian team in that sense," he said.
"But you've got to have more than two players contributing on the offensive end."
The Opals maintained their dominance for the rest of the match, securing a berth at the world championships in Turkey next September.
