Netball: Wipiiti packs a punch in return to court

Southern Steel shooter Daneka Wipiiti marked her return to the netball court with a commanding display as her side beat the Northern Mystics 64-62 in a pre-season tournament in Queenstown tonight.

Wipiiti returned from a maternity break to nail 30 of her 34 attempts at goal.

"It was a bit nerve-wracking," Wipiiti admitted. "You forget the physical aspect of the game ... my poor body - I was just bracing myself."

For the Mystics, Catherine Latu was rock solid in the shooting ranks, slotting 26 from 26.

In the first of the trans-Tasman clashes, the Steel went down 48-56 to the Queensland Firebirds - superior shooting ultimately proving the difference.

Towering Jamaican international Romelda Aiken was tough to combat, slotting 36 of her 39 attempts, and was matched in the accuracy stakes by goal attacks Alissa Castrisos and Sophie Croft for half a game respectively.

In other games played yesterday, a last quarter blitz enabled Canterbury Tactix to beat the Australian Institute of Sport 54-45, after trailing 26-30 at halftime.

The Tactix then lost 50-62 to the Firebirds, who held a commanding 33-22 halftime lead and were never threatened.

The Central Pulse put in a gutsy effort to upset the Northern Mystics 66-60 after narrowly leading 33-32 at halftime in another match.