Official Result: NSW Swifts Vs. Kia Magic

Official Result: NSW Swifts (60) def Kia Magic (52)

NSW Swifts ended a seven-year wait to contest their second ANZ Championship Grand Final after subduing a gallant Kia Magic 60-52 in Semi-Final 2 held in Hamilton on Sunday.

Winners of the inaugural title in 2008, the Swifts will meet the Mission Queensland Firebirds innext Sunday’s all-Australian Grand Final.

Seemingly coasting at half-time after exploding out of the blocks with a dominant second quarter, the Swifts were given a decent shake-up when Magic showed plenty of heart to make a game of it with a thrilling fight-back.

Not in the starting line-up, captain Kimberlee Green was ushered in for the final quarter as the Swifts were forced to keep a resurgent Magic at bay. Experience eventually shone through, the reliable shooting returns of Caitlin Thwaites and Susan Pettitt combined with the impressive defensive qualities of Julie Corletto and Sharni Layton eventually getting the visitors over the line.

Magic continued with their starting line-up of recent weeks, defender Casey Kopua, still feeling her way after coming back from long term injury, taking the goal defence bib and Malia Paseka cementing her spot at goal attack.

Still erring on the side of caution, the Swifts elected to leave Green on the bench despite her availability after being troubled by a calf problem in recent weeks. That meant Paige Hadley (wing attack), Jade Clarke (centre) and Abbey McCulloch (wing defence) making up the visitor’s midcourt.

There was little to separate the teams during an even first stanza. The Magic had to withstand considerable defensive pressure on attack but showed admirable patience in working the ball around and waiting for the openings.

That patience was invariably finished off by shooter Jo Harten who showed exceptional movement to gain clear space while shouldering most of the shooting load for Magic.

In her 100th match, Corletto was a key figure for the Swifts, keeping Paseka quiet while Clarke showed strong driving play to the top of the circle as Magic edged to a 15-14 lead at the first break.

The visitors quickly turned the tide on the resumption, turning the deficit into a handsome advantage as they played out a decisive second stanza.

With Thwaites showing great variation in her game and in-form defender Layton playing a more influential role at the other end, the Swifts skipped into overdrive.

Magic could not match the impressive flow and through-court transition of the Swifts, instead struggling for options in the face of full court defensive pressure with missed shots not helping the cause.

A withering burst of seven straight goals ended a dominant second stanza for the Swifts, who outscored the Magic 17-6 when rolling into the main break well in control when leading 31-21.

Ellen Halpenny was quickly injected into the game for Paseka in the second half while the Swifts introduced Stephanie Wood for Clarke. However as they have done throughout the season, the young Magic team showed they were far from done.

Showing a strong resolve, the home team undid much of the Swifts good work by producing an equally dominant reply during the third stanza.

Halpenny slotted in seamlessly to reignite Harten’s confidence while Kopua and exciting young centre Samantha Sinclair produced individual moments of brilliance to give the Magic their own seven-goal unanswered crusade.

The Swifts finally steadied their ship albeit with their lead cut significantly, when taking a 42-40 lead into the last break.

Swifts shooting statistics:
Caitlin Thwaites 33/36 (92%)
Susan Pettitt 27/29 (93%)

Magic shooting statistics:
Joanne Harten 39/44 (89%)
Malia Paseka 4/7 (57%)
Ellen Halpenny 9/9 (100%)

END

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