A first-half blitz helped the Otago Gold Rush to a fourth consecutive win last night.
The side led 39-20 at halftime and emerged a 63-42 victor in its WBC match against the Taranaki Thunder at the Edgar Centre.
It was an impressive performance from the home side, which takes good form into the finals in two weeks.
The Gold Rush played a fast pace early.It applied pressure to Taranaki on defence and attacked the hoop aggressively on offence.
When it got out on the fast break it looked dangerous, while it did a good job working the ball to create quality shots against the Taranaki zone.
Offensive rebounds also proved a valuable source of scoring, as the Gold Rush battled well on the glass against a bigger opposition. It streaked out to an early lead and was comfortable at 23-10 ahead at the first break.
That extended to 39-20 at the end of the second, the game essentially won at that point.
It began to break down from there, although the defence remained stifling as Taranaki struggled to create good shots.
Dana Goularte was prominent early, getting to the hoop and proving energetic on defence.
She finished as the game’s top-scorer with 15 points, one of only two players to reach double-digits.
Aside from that the scoring was relatively spread out. Nicole Ruske was the next highest, with nine points and seven rebounds.
Lyndi Laborn was the best of the Taranaki players, proving dominant inside with 13 points and 11 assists.
Ruske has been named in the Tall Ferns for the first time.
The 19-year-old will travel with the team to Japan and Taiwan next month.
Ruske played for the Junior Tall Ferns (under-19) in 2016 and has been a member of the Gold Rush for several years.
She joins a host of other promising talents in what is a very young squad.
As the games on tour have no implications for world rankings, coach Guy Molloy said it was an opportunity to blood new players.
That would allow the side to build further towards the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
• The Sharks have again ended a Saints winning streak with a 98-86 win in their NBL clash in Invercargill last night. In the opening round of the season, the Sharks ended the Saints’ 24-game winning streak, and last night a strong first-half performance was enough to end the Saints’ streak of 10.
Reuben Te Rangi stepped up against the defending champion to score with 19 points on 8-for-11 shooting. Southland also welcomed back Alex Pledger who had missed the past two games with an ankle injury. Pledger grabbed a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds.
