A dominant second quarter set a winning foundation for the Northern Mystics as they beat the Northern Stars 52 – 70 to claim the inaugural Barfoot & Thompson Northern Challenge.
Coming into the match, both teams had spilt the previous two matches with the Mystics winning 60 – 54 in round two before the Stars won round ten, 55 – 58.
The Stars went ahead 16 – 15 to close out the first quarter, however the introduction of Maria Folau at the start of the second quarter ignited the visitors as they quickly gained momentum on the final Super Sunday of the ANZ Premiership.
A number of attacking errors prompted the Stars to make a change bringing Christina Oscar on at wing attack, moving Grace Kara to center and Anna Thompson to the bench.
In a scrappy end to the first half, the Mystics extended their lead to 27-34.
It was a tight battle in the Stars shooting circle with Maia Wilson and Paula Griffin under immense pressure from Phoenix Karaka and Storm Purvis.
In a much better start to the third quarter the Stars managed to close the gap to four goals on the back of some full court defensive pressure and slick attacking play.
The Stars defence end of Kate Burley, Ama Agbeze and Olivia Coughlan each had turns at trying to combat the Mystics attack, with Holly Fowler doing a commendable job on trying to shut down Elisapeta Toeava.
The Mystics once again gained momentum to build another seven-goal lead 42-49 going into the final quarter.
In a rampant final quarter, the Mystics added 21 points to the Stars 10 their tally to clock up 70 points for the first time this season.
The Stonz Jewelers player of the match was captain Grace Kara.
The Northern Stars have twenty-four hours to recover before they take on the Central Pulse at Pulman Arena tomorrow from 7.30pm.
The Pulse had a narrow loss to the Canterbury Tactix 44-39 in the first Super Sunday match.
