Netball North coach Yvonne Willering openly admitted her side played well within themselves in the 64-45 drubbing by Waikato at the national provincial tournament in Palmerston North.
It was clear they took their foot off the pedal early in the second quarter.
Waikato, the defending champions, now face Otago inthe first of the semifinals, while North meet Auckland Waitakere.
With little separating Auckland Waitakere and Otago, there was little advantage for North to finish first or second in the round-robin competition.
North led 16-12 in a frantic first quarter, but that lead soon diminished as Waikato cranked up a gear.
Leading 32-25 at halftime, Waikato extended their advantage to 53-32 at the three-quarter mark.
Willering used all 11 of her players - even Silver Ferns Temepara Clark and Sheryl Scanlan spent time on the bench - and her opponent, Nicole Dryden, used 10 or her 11.
"We definitely didn't see everything they are capable of," Dryden said.
Willering said it was in her side's best interest to save themselves for the "road ahead".
"We were confirmed for the semfinals ... you have to appreciate we are in a situation where we may have two tough games ahead of us, and that certainly was in our minds as well," Willering said.
When asked if her side threw the match, Willering replied: "No, I didn't say we threw it.
"I think there is still a long road and if you are going to put absolutely everything into this match, where is your reserve for the next day?"
She was confident, however, that if her side were to meet Waikato again the gap would not be 19.
"I think the score was irrelevant and if they take confidence from it, then that is fine.
"We looked at the game from our own purposes and what we were trying to achieve."
In other matches, Auckland Waitakere just managed to edge out Otago 43-39 to clinch third spot, and Wellington downed Canterbury 41-30.
The Aucklanders led throughout, but were never able to entirely shake the Otago side.
"I thought Otago played well, but I never believed we were going to lose," Auckland Waitakere coach Judy Weston said.
After their loss to Wellington, Canterbury ended the round-robin competition a disappointing sixth, despite having three Silver Ferns in their side.
Wellington led at each quarter, 9-7, 21-16 and 34-23.
