But University Albion A were nevertheless pushed the entire way and had to hold on to beat College A 51-49 in their premier A top-of-the -table clash at the Edgar Centre on Saturday.
Uni Albion shooter Madeleine Bailey slotted 25 of her 26 attempts to finish on 96%, while Neve Beattie nailed 26 from 28 at 93% in a near-flawless shooting performance.
The second and third quarter scores make for intriguing reading: Uni Albion won the second quarter 21-10 — to lead 31-19 at halftime — but College hit back, winning the third quarter 19-9.
Uni Albion, the defending champions, remain unbeaten, while the loss was College’s first this season.
Both teams were missing key players on Southern Blast duty for the opening game of the National Netball League.
College snuck ahead mid-way through the opening quarter, with experienced wing attack Zoey Flockton directing her attack end.
Bailey popped through the top to offer a release for Uni Albion A on their second-phase, while Olivia Mavor hit the circle edge deep in the pocket for their side to lead 10-9 at the break.
Jaime Anderson and Macy Mahoney-Studd found nice options into their Uni Albion A shooters, who continued to re-offer, and goal keep Mickey Jones stole a nice ball on the base.
They kept the ball short and fast through the court and pulled ahead thanks to their sharp shooters.
Uni Albion wing defence Alice Cocker set things up for her defenders at the back as they went on three-goal runs to push ahead.
The Pelasio sisters joined forces in College’s shooting circle.
Talei held strong at the back, while older sister Kiana — who started the game at goal defence — rolled the top and opened the space.
They helped bring College back into the game, while Millie McKenzie offered quick ball to them from the circle edge and Holly Cunliffe injected a different pace off the bench.
They started to split the Uni Albion defenders and find a better opening, and came back strong through the latter part of the third quarter to trail 40-38.
It was another tight battle in the final quarter, but Uni Albion stood strong to win.
In the other games, Southern Magpies had a close 51-49 victory against South Pacific Titans Titi, Columba College A beat Titans Taiko 51-32, and Physed A beat Uni Albion B 51-30.
Premier A games will be played on Thursday this week to make way for the Southern Steel v Waikato-Bay of Plenty game in Dunedin on Saturday.
