Pulse return to winning ways
Te Wananga o Raukawa Pulse have returned to their winning ways with a thorough 55-37 victory over the Northern Stars in Wellington tonight.
Despite a slow start, the Pulse won every quarter and kept the Stars to their lowest score in this first ANZ Premiership season. Pulse captain Katrina Grant gave credit to her team’s full court defence – their best effort of the 2017 season.
The Stars defence, led by captain Leana de Bruin, were in sparkling form, especially pouncing on loose ball. But the south Auckland-based team struggled to transform any turnover ball into points on the board, with the Pulse bearing down on them at every turn.
The Pulse took two-and-a-half minutes to get on the board, as the Stars’ defence successfully scattered their attack. Cat Tuivaiti and Tiana Metuarau had to work hard to make themselves available to their midcourters.
Neither side treasured possession and scored off each other’s centre passes for much of the quarter, with barely a goal separating them. In a low scoring quarter, that reflected the defensive pressure from both sides, the Pulse took an 11-9 lead into the break.
In a reversal of the last quarter start, the Pulse added four goals before the Stars added to their score. Whitney Souness (MVP for the match) and Sarah Bayman began to find better avenues to send the ball into their shooters, and Tuivaiti and Metuarau both showed smart feet and safe hands.
The Stars became increasingly frustrated as time after time, de Bruin and wing defence Kayla Cullen won precious ball on defence, only for possession to change hands once again further down court.
Down 28-17 at halftime, the Stars returned to the court revived, but were knocked back again when wing attack Jess Taane was suspended for two minutes for deliberate contact.
The Pulse took the opportunity to further clamp down on the Stars, with Katrina Grant and Phoenix Karaka becoming even more effective in blocking off the Stars’ flow even before they reached the circle; the home side building a 43-27 lead at three-quarter time.
Young Napier midcourter Kimiora Poi got to make her debut for the Pulse in the final quarter, when the Pulse continued to pour on the pressure and the goals. Metuarau had one of her best shooting performances adding 31 goals to the Pulse total. While it was a better performance from the Stars to end the match, it was too little too late.