Netball: Northern Stars stun Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic in ANZ Premiership

Emma Iversen of the Stars in action. Photo / Photosport

The Northern Stars have caused a second upset within a week in the ANZ Premiership.

Five days after toppling the Northern Mystics, the Stars have pulled off a stunning 55-50 win over the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic in Manukau tonight.

The win came despite the Stars trailing by eight goals, after the opening stages made it look like the Magic would coast to a comfortable victory.

An 18-11 lead after the first period had the Magic well in control, before the Stars took ascendancy of the midcourt and started to create more opportunities.

While the Magic were converting at an excellent rate (12/12) when they got the ball into the circle in the second quarter, they committed seven turnovers as the Stars put up 21 shots in the quarter.

It was a gradual accumulation from the Stars. As the Magic got sloppier with their feeds into the circle, the slicker Stars slowly edged back into the contest. While there was no run of uncontested goals, the Stars - led by an impressive second quarter from Emma Iversen - quickly got within one goal at halftime, and then pushed on to lead 38-32 in the third quarter.

The Magic didn't go away easily, and three straight goals from Lenize Potgieter dragged the deficit back to within one goal with seven minutes remaining.

It wasn't to be enough though, with misplaced passes proving costly as the Stars showed greater composure in the final minutes. Add in an umpiring performance that hugely frustrated the disruptive Magic defensive duo of Kelly Jury and Casey Kopua, and the Stars pulled away to earn a stress-free final minutes and their fourth win of the season.

While the Stars would need a miracle finish to qualify for the playoffs, the win put a dent in the Magic's hopes. The Magic picked up a bonus point to remain in third place on 14 points, but could have put a further buffer between them and the fourth-placed Mystics (12 points).

They remain behind the Central Pulse on goal percentage, and the unbeaten Southern Steel, with the two sides clashing on Wednesday night in Porirua.