Otago finished fifth at the first tournament in Auckland last month and must stay in the top five in Dunedin to play in the championship round at Auckland next month.
Otago took control early and led 22-10 after the first quarter, 41-16 at half-time and 64-24 at the three-quarter stage.
Coach Brent Matehaere was pleased by the performance.
"We tried things against opponents that we had prac-ticed at training and they worked. It was a good hit-out for us."
What pleased him the most was the contribution made by the bench.
Otago's reserve players scored 35 points to South Canterbury's three.
Otago also dominated the turnovers and conceded only 13 compared with 26 by South Canterbury.
Otago also edged South Canterbury in rebounds, 48-36.
The best player for Otago was Renee Johnson, who made four three-point goals from seven attempts and scored 16 of Otago's points.
Olympian Suzie Bates had a solid game at point guard and landed five field goals from her 10 attempts.
The other player to impress was Kelly Groot, who grabbed nine rebounds.
The best South Canterbury player was Dallas Frederikson, who scored 17 points, Otago played the Harbour Breeze last night and will have a key game against the Wellington Swish at 6pm today.
