Erin Phillips admits she hoped things would finish on a better note as she calls time on her decorated basketball career.

Announcing her retirement in a column for PlayersVoice, Phillips said the last game she ever played for Australia would haunt her forever.

“I had never really considered that the last game I’d play for Australia could be the one that hurt most,” she wrote… “It was at the Rio Olympics; the quarter-final against Serbia.”

“I was incredibly down after Rio. I felt ashamed, humiliated and even lost. I didn’t know if I had the energy or the passion to keep pushing myself through more camps, more tours, more time away from my family.

“The feeling of regret was not how I imagined it ending. I don’t know if it will ever go away. I try not to focus on it, but unfortunately it will stay with me forever.”

Erin will now focus solely on her football career at the Adelaide Crows and take up an assistant coaching role at the Dallas Wings when the AFLW season finishes.