Magic's tricks run dry in semifinal

Hindsight is a great thing but Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic coach Noeline Taurua reckons she wouldn't have done anything differently last night.
Magic's dream of another shot at the transtasman title was snuffed by a heartbreaking one-goal loss to an on-fire Northern Mystics, 43-42, at Mystery Creek. Mystics have less than a week before facing Firebirds in Brisbane on Sunday in the 2011 ANZ Championship grand final showdown.
Despite last night's loss, Taurua took plenty of positives from a hard-fought battle which in the end came down to composure, the mental toughness to make the right choices under pressure.
"As a team we did everything possible. As individuals there was still room for improvement but that could just be inexperience," Taurua said, alluding to the likes of wing attack Jess Tuki and goal attack Julliana Naoupu who have been enjoying substantial court time in the competition for the first time.
"Across our frontline, we looked inexperienced at times and when it came time for everyone to just play their own roles, we coughed up the ball," Taurua said.
"But the girls kept fighting which was really pleasing. We showed great fight.
"We worked with what we had ... it's about having mental stamina, players who can do the job time and time again under pressure. Some players might have that naturally and, if they don't, it can be trained into them but it takes a couple of years."
Taurua said last week's capitulation to Firebirds was more heartbreaking than last night's loss and Magic would recover and move on.
Looking at the stats, Magic had more ball, got more rebounds and more intercepts and won three-quarters of the match. Mystics won the second quarter by a convincing 16 goals to seven and that swung the game for Magic who fought back to the bitter end but couldn't dent the visitors' confidence or composure.
After an unsettled start, Mystics found their rhythm and put on an all-out team effort, anchored by an inspirational performance from Maria Tutaia who was unstoppable at goal attack and nailed 28 from 30 attempts, many of them mid to long-range shots.
Up 13-9 after the first quarter, Magic had a horrendous second quarter which, in the final telling, proved the turning of the game. Magic scored just seven goals to Mystics' 16, a nine-goal swing from which the home side never recovered.
By halftime Mystics were on a roll and growing in confidence with every long shot Tutaia put up and they had plenty of supporters in the crowd to spur them on.
With 10 minutes left, Magic were down six goals and simply unable to break down the visitors who battled it out, leaving the home side to rue missed opportunities and soft turnovers.
For Mystics, the win was "just fantastic", according to midcourt battler Temepara George.
"We've made it to the final ... we ground it out to the end and it paid off ... we've finally done it."