Official Result: Kia Magic (52) def Mojo Pulse (47)

Official Result: Kia Magic (52) def Mojo Pulse (47)

The Kia Magic scored three essential victories in Hamilton tonight – a crucial 52-47 win over the Mojo Pulse, a berth in the New Zealand Conference Finals, and the long-awaited return of their inspirational leader Casey Kopua.

The Magic needed this Round 13 win to secure second place on the NZ Conference ladder – leaving the Pulse and Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel now to wrestle it out for the third and final spot.

It was also a breakthrough moment for Kopua, the Silver Ferns captain having sat out the majority of the season recovering from surgery on a ruptured patella tendon. She made two appearances during tonight’s fierce encounter, for an encouraging total of 30 minutes on court.

Not all is lost for the Pulse, who showed signs of fortitude and flair to be within striking distance for most of the match.

Penetrating defence from Leana de Bruin and Kristiana Manu’a from the get-go ensured the Magic got off to a cracking start – a goal they’d been working on all week. As the ball flowed through court, wing attack Grace Rasmussen honed her vision and feeding to Jo Harten, who was also immediately on song.

The Pulse weren’t far off the Magic’s pace, but found it tougher to work the ball smoothly into Jodi Brown and Ameliaranne Wells, who were often forced to take their shots from further out, and trailed 13-9 at the first break.

And then the moment Magic fans had long been waiting for: Kopua entered the game at goal keeper to start the second spell. The recombination with de Bruin paid dividends quickly, with no confidence lost in their time apart, and the Magic’s lead raced out to seven within minutes.

Ama Agbeze came on to bolster the Pulse defence, but Harten still found space to pirouette, leap and shoot, without a miss in 22 attempts in the first half. But the ever-determined Katrina Grant wasn’t going to let their grip on the game slip this early, and her defensive tenacity saw the Pulse close to within four goals.

Up 28-23 at halftime, the Magic reverted back to their starting defence line-up, with Kopua back on the bench – having made a successful return to frontline netball. They also made a change in their shooting end, with Ellen Halpenny coming on for Paseka.

It wasn’t until the last five minutes of the quarter that either side stamped their authority – and it was the Pulse who were in control. They made the most of Magic’s mistakes, under fierce pressure in the midcourt, and sneaked within one just before the final break.

The Magic held on to a 37-35 advantage entering the last quarter, and turned to Paseka again to open up the Magic attack and support Harten – who ended up never missing a shot in her 39 attempts. Accepting the challenge, Paseka put up a string of self-assured shots to keep the Magic’s tally ticking over and stretching their lead back out to five.

Kopua also reappeared for this quarter, this time at goal defence, which again seemed to inspire de Bruin. The Pulse weren’t prepared to give up, with Wells shooting with an impressive confidence, and Grant throwing herself at every ball on defence, but the distance to the Magic was just out of their reach.

Magic shooting statistics:
Joanne Harten 39/39 (100%)
Malia Paseka 13/15 (87%)
Ellen Halpenny 0/2 (0%)

Pulse shooting statistics:
Ameliaranne Wells 29/35 (83%)
Jodi Brown 18/20 (90%)

MVP: Ameliaranne Wells (Pulse)

ENDS

© Scoop Media