Poor shooting and soft turnovers contributed to Eastern's woeful start to the National Netball Championship at North Shore.
"A positive was the fact we made 49 attempts, which means we are getting the ball to the circle," Eastern head coach Jewels Falcon said after the 71-26 loss to North Harbour on Saturday. "However we only succeeded with 53 per cent of our attempts and that's something all of our shooters have to take responsibility for."
Her troops were up against it from the beginning and trailed 24-4 after the first quarter.
"It was always going to be a battle to hang on after that. We were up against a side coached by Yvonne Willering and Linda Vagana ... they had three New Zealand secondary schools representatives and some experienced campaigners in Julie Kelman-Poto, Brigette Tapene and Jessica Moulds."
Eastern were beaten 17-6 in the second quarter and produced their best quarter in the third when beaten 13-11. North Harbour won the fourth quarter 17-5. Woodford House and HHSOG Huias player Millie Ironside was the best of the Eastern shooters with three from five attempts.