MAGIC 59
MYSTICS 45
KEY POINTS:
The Northern Mystics will have two weeks to rue costly unforced errors after slumping to their fifth loss of the season with a hefty defeat to the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic last night.
The ANZ Championship ladder makes for grim reading for the Mystics heading in to their
bye round - they have just one win from six outings and a semifinal finish now looks well out of their grasp.
The Auckland side opted to play in their "lucky" alternate light blue strip, which they scored their first win of the season in against the Steel last weekend.
But it was going to take more than a different colour uniform to halt the red-hot Magic, who continue to build strong momentum this season. The win lifts the Magic in to a share of the competition lead, alongside the Queensland Firebirds.
It was a far from flawless performance from Noeline Taurua's side, with the Magic coming unstuck by their own speed at times, while the physical Mystics defence caused the visitors numerous headaches ... perhaps literally.
But after leading by just four goals at three quarter time, the Magic ran rampant in the final spell with star goal-keep Casey Williams living up to her billing as one of the best defenders in the game and gobbling up intercept after intercept.
While a 14-goal win over a side with the firepower of the Mystics may seem impressive, Magic defender Joline Henry said her side was hoping for more.
"We actually set ourselves the objective of a 20-goal margin. While we acknowledge that with confidence the Mystics are an outstanding team, the focus was on ourselves between us and the scoreboard," Henry said.
After a messy third quarter Henry said the Magic were determined to finish strongly.
"We were a bit disappointed after losing our structure through there, and there's nothing like a good kick in the pants from your team-mates to wake you up. It's pretty encouraging to know we can put out just one or two good quarters and still come out with a margin like that."
The match went goal for goal through-out the opening exchanges before a couple of loose passes in the Mystics attack third saw the visitors grab a four-goal advantage.
But spurred on by some sterling work on defence from Leana de Bruin and Sheryl Scanlan, the Auckland side appeared to regain their composure on attack and remain in the game.
The visitors led 15-13 at the first break but opened the second quarter with a run of three straight goals to claim a handy five goal lead. With the Magic defensive pairing of Williams and Jodi Tod not giving an inch, the Mystics ball in to their shooters became laboured.
But after a couple of questionable calls against the Magic defence, the visitors heads dropped and the Mystics took advantage, clawing their way back to trail by just two goals again by halftime.
Both sides made a dire start to the third spell with the ball swinging back and forth the length of the court with neither able to convert their ball.
By three-quarter time the Mystics managed to peg back a couple of goals, but at 42-38 down, the home side were left with a lot of work to do.
The Mystics hopes were extinguished after five minutes with the Magic accelerating to a 49-39 lead.
