Relieved and elated, Pulse grab finals berth
Te Wananga O Raukawa Pulse have sealed their spot in the ANZ Premiership Finals Series, digging deep for a 57-47 win over a feisty Northern Stars in Porirua tonight.
The Pulse needed the victory to be certain of a top-three finish, but the Stars weren’t prepared to hand them a free pass, making a compelling third-quarter assault that kept the home side honest.
While Cat Tuivaiti’s 35 goals from 36 attempts made a sizeable difference to the Pulse’s final result, her young sidekick Tiana Metuarau stood out for her endeavours on both attack and defence. While she added an impressive 22 goals, she also made two stunning intercepts which helped to keep the Pulse out front from go to whoa.
Despite the spoiling efforts of Stars captain Leana de Bruin, back in action after an ankle injury, the Pulse assumed a three-goal lead early on.
They were quickly dominant throughout the court, particularly in defence led by the practiced duo of Katrina Grant and Phoenix Karaka. But both sides were guilty of basic errors, as both felt the pressure.
Up 15-10 at the first break, the Pulse were finally able to stretch out, finding smoother avenues to their shooters, and contesting every ball in the Stars’ possession to shut down any attempt at a fightback.
The Stars went low, to try feed their shooters with bounce passes and deny the Pulse defence, but the gap between the two sides was soon 10 goals wide.Tuivaiti and Metuarau showed off their growing intuition, and their dominance of the circle.Tuivaiti capped off a strong quarter with a spectacular long shot on the halftime whistle, giving the Pulse a 30-19 lead.
Whitney Souness played a crucial role in the success of her shooters, setting them up with superb passes. But she was also lethal on defence.
Even with de Bruin back on the bench, the Stars started the third quarter with a bang, scoring five goals to the Pulse’s one; goal shoot Malia Vaka driving the turnaround with her speed, athleticism and accuracy.
Goal keep Sulu Fitzpatrick and, especially Kayla Cullen at goat defence, also had a new hunger for the ball, and helped halve the difference to five.
Although the Stars owned the quarter, 16-12, the Pulse still held the upper-hand, 42-35, going into the last 15 minutes.
After Vaka rolled an ankle and left the court, the Stars lost steam, and the Pulse took advantage, pushing back out to a double-digits lead before the final whistle.