The Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic claimed their first win of this year's ANZ Premiership season against the Northern Stars at Auckland's Pulman Arena.
In the club's longest losing streak, the Magic were defeated across three consecutive matches in the opening three rounds.
But after what Magic captain Casey Kopua described as an "embarrassing" start to the season, the previously winless side responded to the call to "step up" and claimed a much-needed 64-53 victory.
With a promising front line featuring Silver Fern Samantha Sinclair and South African import Lenize Potgieter, who has shot the highest average goals of the season so far, the Magic made sure their determined presence was felt.
The Waikato side were still short of their Silver Fern defender Kelly Jury, who suffered a dislocated shoulder injury back in round two, but young up-and-coming defender Kate Lloyd was keen to step-up to the plate.
Defending alongside Kopua, the pair snatched every intercept they could from Stars mid-courters Grace Kara and Holly Fowler as the Northern side struggled to successfully feed the ball to their shooters.
After trailing in the opening quarter by six points, the Stars found their rhythm in the second half of the match with faster play and fewer mistakes.
But Stars shooting duo Maia Wilson and Paula Griffin couldn't keep up with the always accurate Potgieter, who maintained an unstoppable 100% shooting rate for the first two quarters.
Stars shooter Ellen Halpenny took to the court in place of Wilson as Griffin moved into goal shoot, but the mid-quarter change didn't take effect as the Magic held their lead 30-25 at halftime.
As the Stars struggled to keep possession of the ball, the Magic continued to clock up points extending their promising lead in the final quarters.
In a desperate bid to make back lost ground, Stars coach Kiri Wills opted for her opening combinations, bringing Wilson back into goal shoot and English import Ama Agbeze on defence.
But the return of the two internationally experienced players wasn't enough to keep the Stars in the match as the Magic went from strength-to-strength in a strong final quarter performance.
Tonight's win will see the Magic move up from the bottom of the ANZ Premiership ladder to lead the Stars in fifth place by one point.
But the Magic will need to follow-up their win in round five against the tenacious Mainland Tactix next week if they wish to claw themselves closer to the top of the leaderboard.
The Tactix will play the Northern Mystics tomorrow night at Christchurch's Horncastle Arena after narrowly defeating the Stars last Wednesday 49-48 in their first home stadium win.
- Cheree Kinnear
