"It's really good for the game because it keeps us in good health," she said after player/coach Jeda Bartlett spearheaded Outkast to 14-12 in the first quarter before Otane clawed their way back into it in the next quarter, 23-24 and showed resilience to establish a 38-30 margin in the third spell.
Outkast team manager Lauren Marsh said Outkast wanted to gauge their worth and came off the court realising they were making incremental gains.
"It's not that far away and we showed it in the first half," Marsh said, believing Outkast needed to be more precise with their ball placement.
Kupa lauded Outkast defender Amanda Palmer, a former Otane player, keeping her shooters in check.
The winners shot at 71 per cent overall compared with Outkast's 80.
Kaya Lord managed 73 per cent and Kelsey McPhee 71 for Otane while Rakei Huata set the pace with 85 percent (35 from 41 attempts) for Outkast.
Kupa singled out Jaydi Taylor-Chaffey and Briar Chalmers for putting up the shutters.
"It's a bit of a shock to us but at the end of the day it's good for our team because we can go away and work on a few things," she said.
Marsh welcomed the return of midcourter Kimiora Poi for providing some impetus in the Outkast engine room.
In the other matches, All In Elusive beat Central Sports Vet Services HB 43-36 while on the adjacent court Hastings High School Old Girls Proactive Huias made short work of Havelock North Jazz Apples Kauri in posting a 53-39 result.
"It's much better talking to you when we have a win,"said a delighted All In coach Charissa Barham.
They also got a wake-up call when Central led 10-8 in the first quarter and trailed 20-24 in the second.
Barham felt once her women started applying pressure on transition the rest of the things started falling into place.
All In got their noses ahead 32-30 in the third spell before breathing a sigh of relief in the last quarter.
Etana Luki shot at 81 per cent for All In but both sides looked anaemic overall in their overall 69 per cent at the coalface.
"I felt really good about our processes and when you do that the outcome will be all right," Barham said.
HHSOG coach Rebecca Martin didn't have to tear out her hair at all after her troops made a 20-9 statement in the first quarter.
That gulf got wider in the second spell, 33-21, before they got into cruise mode in the third quarter, 45-31, against the hapless villagers.
Huias goal attack/goal shoot Laike Baker shot at 83 per cent but overall the team managed 83 per cent.
Yet again, Kate Pearse was the pick of Havelock North's shooters managing the night's high with 93 per cent (13 from 14 attempts) for an overall 80 for her side.
"We wanted our three under-17 girls to have some court time because they're off to their tournament," said Martin but wanted her shooters to be at the 90 per cent mark if they want to win the championship.
"They'll all get a fright one day, hopefully it'll be this year," she said although mindful that it's not that bad when Otane can have an "off day" and still win by 11.
