Their progress was undoubtedly hampered by a injuries to two of their most experienced stars - veteran defender Leana de Bruin (foot) and key midcourter Grace Rasmussen (calf).
It's no coincidence the Magic finally broke their duck this season in round seven when Rasmussen returned to the fold, with de Bruin's comeback a week later.
Both stars made their presence known to the Pulse early on in tonight's outing, with de Bruin forcing a turnover from visitors in their opening possession. Rasmussen meanwhile set the tone early on attack, letting the ball go into the circle with confidence.
In one particularly memorable passage of play from the Magic, Rasmussen unleashed a long flat ball from the transverse line to connect with shooter Jo Harten on the fly. The English import finished the move off with a lay-up. On the back of dynamic play such as this, the Magic shot out to a 14-8 lead late in the first spell. But a five-goal run from the Pulse towards the end of period saw the visitors peg the deficit back to 15-13 by quarter time.
That proved to be the only major lapse from the Magic side all night, as the home side took control of the match with a 18-11 second quarter effort to hold a handy nine-goal lead at the long break.
Pulse coach Tanya Dearns tried a variety of defensive and midcourt combinations to try and disrupt the Magic's flow, but despite some impressive touches by Phoenix Karaka and Katrina Grant, the visitors were unable to make any in-roads on the Magic's lead.
