Bay of Plenty turned on a performance their coach called embarrassing but still scraped into the top four at the national netball champs at Porirua's Te Rauparaha Arena last night on countback.
Bay were thrashed 58-45 by a rampant Otago in the crunch match but, with Auckland Waitakere's 54-44 upset defeat of Southland earlier in the day, they achieved their goal of a spot in the top four, retaining their first division status for next season.
Canterbury took top position with a 48-44 win over Wellington at the completion of pool play, setting up a showdown with Bay of Plenty today, while Wellington will take on Otago, who finished third.
Bay led Otago 28-25 at the midway mark but a horror third quarter, which they lost 19-4, was the crusher. Bay had just six shots in the third quarter to Otago's 23, turning the ball over repeatedly.
"The physical game just got to our girls and they all decided to have a breather at once," a gutted Bay coach Mary-Jane Araroa said.
"We had problems at the attacking end again and [Otago goal attack] Jodi Brown was outstanding, taking our Jodi [goal defence Jodi Tod] out of the game."
Goal shoot Arahi Wall bagged 28 goals from 33 attempts, with Bay finishing on eight points from two wins in round-robin, the same as Southland, with their win two weeks ago in Gore sealing a top-four spot on countback.
Araroa said the team knew the Auckland Waitakere upset would be enough before they took the court, although she was adamant it didn't influence their game.
"It was just a below-par effort, quite embarrassing really, and we're capable of much more.
"As coaches we have so much belief in these girls but they have to start believing in themselves, that they can be competitive at this level. But we set our goal at the start of the season to stay in top four and we've achieved it, so even though today was well below our best we've got to be happy about that."
Canterbury and Wellington turned on a thriller and seem destined to meet again in the final.
Peppered with ANZ Championships players, the match was played at a high intensity.
"We wanted that No1 spot and we wanted to win that game today and take it," Canterbury captain Anna Galvan said.
"It is a factor in the back of our minds that we want to defend our title."
Waikato and Western qualified top in division two and both now have the chance to make division one for next year.
Yesterday's results:
Division one: Southland 44 Auckland Waitakere 54, Otago 58 Bay of Plenty 45, Canterbury 48 Wellington 44.
Division two: Tasman 26 Western 67, Eastern 27 Counties Manukau 57, Waikato 60 North 45.