A tentative opening quarter proved costly for Otago as Auckland-Waitakere held on to win a thriller 51-50 in Auckland yesterday.
Otago coach Deb Tasi-Cordtz said her side failed to match the home team's physicality in the first period and slipped behind 15-10.
The visiting team won two of the remaining three quarters, including outscoring its opponent 14-11 in the final spell, but could not make up all of the ground lost in the early exchanges.
"They pretty much blew us of the court with their physicality in that first part of the game," Tasi-Cordtz said.
Otago secured a bonus point for finishing within five points and remains in the hunt for a place in the top four.
But the draw with Waikato in round one and narrow loss to Auckland Waitakere has left the province with scant room for error.
A win against Wellington in Porirua next weekend was a must, Tasi-Cordtz said.
"We got a bonus point so we haven't come away with nothing.
But it means we have to win, I imagine, two of our next three round-robin games to secure a spot in the top four."
Otago shot well and its defence was sound, but play broke down in the mid court too often and the team needed to work on its connections, she said.
"We created lots of turnover but we are just not valuing possession enough."
In the other top-six games, Waikato beat Bay of Plenty 53-45 in Te Awamutu and, in Wellington, Canterbury defeated the home team 64-56.
Netball championships
The scores
Auckland-Waitakere 51
Phoenix Karaka 30 from 34, Lavina Vaitohi 12/15, Tera-Maria Amani 9/9
Otago 50
Te Paea Selby-Rickit 32/37, Kate Shearer 14/15, Olivia Bates 4/5
Quarter 15-10, halftime 26-22, third quarter 40-36.
