Vixens 58
Magic 43
The Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic's title hopes are hanging by a thread after the Kiwi team were thoroughly outclassed by the Melbourne Vixens in yesterday's major semifinal.
Despite boasting a powerful lineup that includes five frontline Silver Ferns, the Magic, for the second time in as many weeks, looked out of their depth against a top Australian side.
The 58-43 defeat followed last week's humiliating 19-goal loss to the Adelaide Thunderbirds in the final round.
The latest loss means the Magic will have to battle their way through the preliminary final in Hamilton next week if they are to book a rematch against the Vixens, whose win yesterday earned them the direct route into the grand final.
But on their current form it looks as if the Magic will struggle to make it through to the decider.
There are big question marks hovering over the Magic's planning and preparation this season following their late season collapse.
They will have just one week to try to come up with some answers as they prepare to face the winner of tonight's minor semifinal between the Adelaide Thunderbirds and Southern Steel.
With defender Leana de Bruin, who is now well into the second trimester of her pregnancy, unavailable for selection and midcourter Frances Solia hampered by a calf injury, the Magic were forced to field a new-look lineup.
Rookie Jessica Tuki started at wing-attack, while Jodi Tod took up the goal defence bib, pushing star defender Casey Williams back to goalkeep. But the Magic struggled in those areas all game, making a raft of desperate changes in the third and fourth quarters, to no avail.
Williams said her side should have been able to adjust to the changes without missing a beat, but they were left exposed by the brilliant Vixens lineup.
"I think we had the depth to [make changes], we've got flexibility and we should be able to adapt, but obviously today we couldn't do that," said Williams.
After a horror finish to the regular season, the Magic made a confident start to yesterday's match, forcing the Vixens to make a number of uncharacteristic errors early on.
But the in-form Vixens soon hit their stride towards the end of the first spell.
"We really wanted to come out here and show dominance right from the start, we had a good start but we probably didn't push through," said Williams.
Along with struggling to contain the Vixens' attack led by star shooter Sharelle McMahon, the Magic were found wanting down the other end of the court.
The visitors' feeding into the circle was extremely poor at times as Tuki, and her second-half replacement at wing attack Halana Leith, gifted ball to Vixens defenders Bianca Chatfield and Julie Corletto.
Now staring down the barrel of missing out on a grand final spot, the Magic have shown the folly of testing out new combinations at this stage of the season.
