They lost 67-59 to the Northern Kāhu in front of 300 spectators at the Edgar Centre this afternoon.
The home side started strongly, but felt off the pace through the middle letting Kāhu find their rhythm and take the victory.
Ashten Prechtel was solid producing another double-double, scoring 15 points and 22 rebounds. Zoe Richards was also aggressive, scoring 17 points.
The home side had a good start going on a seven-point unanswered run.
Prechtel picked up where she left off defensively from Thursday’s game — picking up eight rebounds in just the first period — swatting away a Kāhu shot that Zoe Richards drained for three at the other end.
Paige Bradley exploited the height mismatch between Prechtel and Kāhu's defence, dishing off some nice assists.
But the point guard picked up three fouls in the first period, limiting her impact on the rest of the first half.
The Hoiho led 17-11 at the first break.
They missed Bradley’s presence in the early stages of the second period, unable to offload as easily with the Kāhu ramping up their pressure.
Awatea Leach drained a big three for the visitors and another couple of shots closed the gap to one.
I’lmar’I Thomas came into the game more and locked the game up at 20-20.
She grabbed another, and drew the foul, to give the visitors their first lead of the game.
The Hoiho’s radar was off in the second, struggling to touch the paint or get anything going.
Prechtel finally scored to settle, Zoe Richards attacked the hoop and Tyler Mitchell scored a big three at the end to regain a narrow 31-29 lead at the half.
Tera Reed brought the visitors level, while Krystal Leger-Walker nailed a three to give them the lead.
From there the third was an arm wrestle, with several lead changes and the Hoiho struggled to get momentum.
They found themselves in foul trouble, giving Kāhu the chance to go on a late points flurry and lead 47-41 at the end of the third.
The Kāhu also beat the Hoiho 31-15 in the earlier Rapid League game.
