Official Result: Northern Stars 55 def WBOP Magic 50

Official Result: Northern Stars 55 def WBOP Magic 50

Media Update
Monday 22 May, 2017

The Northern Stars proved they have finally found their groove in the ANZ Premiership with their second giant-killing victory in a row, beating the WBOP Magic 55-50 in Manukau tonight.

The newcomers in the league showed they have successfully built up their confidence and combinations over nine rounds, and they now have the resilience to fight back from a seven-goal deficit in the first quarter.

There were anxious moments for the Stars, who lost their sharp-eyed goal shoot Maia Wilson early in the fourth quarter with an ankle injury. But her shooting sidekicks Malia Vaka and Afa Rusivakula stepped up under pressure to hold out the Magic, who were disappointed to only come away with a bonus point at this crucial end of the competition.

The niggly start for both sides, with unnecessary errors plaguing their movement down court, was an early sign of what would be a hard-fought, uncompromising encounter.

The Magic leapt out to a 10-5 lead helped by the keen eye of goal keep Kelly Jury. A steal from the Stars centre Fa’amu Ioane brought the difference down to two. But then captain Casey Kopua came screaming through for two key intercepts which gave the Magic an 18-11 lead at the first break.

With a shuffle in their attack, the Stars showed an exciting new drive in the second quarter, with Emma Iversen and Courtney Tairi finding their shooters Wilson and Vaka (who had replaced Rusivakula) with so much more ease.

With Kayla Cullen moving into the Stars’ defensive circle, and hungry to hunt for the ball, the Magic’s seven-goal advantage was sliced to one, after a last-minute intercept from captain Leana de Bruin was converted by Wilson’s long-range shot to beat the halftime buzzer.

Soon after the break, the Stars snatched a three-goal lead as they threw themselves at every opportunity, and forced the Magic into a torrent of mistakes they usually wouldn’t make. With Ioane finding her niche at wing defence, and Wilson in strong form under the hoop, the gap extended to six.

With Wilson moving gingerly on a rolled ankle, the Magic defence took the chance to reclaim some ball and closed in a smidgeon, trailing the Stars 41-38 going into the last 15 minutes.

Wilson was forced to leave the court with her injury with 12 minutes to go – having shot 26 from 31 - and the Stars initially struggled to make the same headway without her. Sam Sinclair stepped up her defence in the midcourt, and Kopua and Jury went on the rampage to try to reclaim the lead.

But with de Bruin and Cullen (the match MVP) continuing to upset the Magic shooters, and Vaka and Rusivakula working in unison at the other end, the Stars pulled off another stunning victory at the Magic’s expense.

Official Result and Stats:
Northern Stars 55 def WBOP Magic 50

Champion Data Match Centre: click here
Shooting Stats – Stars
WIlson: 26/31 @ 84%
Rusivakula: 11/15 @ 73%
Vaka: 18/24 @ 75%

Shooting Stats - Magic
Potgieter: 34/37 @ 92%
Falkner: 16/21 @ 76%
Malesala: 0/1 @ 100%

MVP: Kayla Cullen (Stars)

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