With the game evenly poised, Canterbury seized the momentum with a dazzling scoring spree. It opened up a 10-goal lead and eventually won 63-59.
Otago never gave up and closed the gap to three goals on several occasions. But the Helen Bryant-coached side was not about to surrender the lead and held off a determined Otago effort.
"At halftime I still felt we were in the game and we had belief," Otago coach Deb Tasi-Cordtz said.
"But they were pretty smart with that ball, so, yeah, bugger."
Canterbury got the better of midcourt exchanges but Tasi-Cordtz said personal errors has also proved costly during that damaging second period.
"Once we tidied that up, it was game on. The second half was much better and it was a really good comeback. The girls fought hard.
"But every time we came back at them they would come right back at us."
Canterbury nudged in front midway through the first period and scored three late goals to take a 17-15 lead into the first break.
The defending champion shut the Otago midcourt down with some superb whole-court defence in the second period and, in a 10-minute spell, put up 16 shots to its opponent's five, extending the lead to a game-high 10-goals. Otago rallied, closing the gap to five with a scoring flurry of its own late in the half.
A little surprisingly, Bryant decided to tinker with the attack end, bringing Gemma Hazeldine on for Sophia Fenwick at goal attack for the second half.
Canterbury goal shoot Ellen Halpenny produced a great performance, landing 45 of her 50 attempts. Otago pair Te Paea Selby-Rickit (44 from 51) and Jodi Brown (15 from 15) were just as accurate but Canterbury managed to put up 12 more shots (78 to 66) in the game.
Arguably, Otago's biggest problem was getting the ball into scoring positions, with Canterbury's midcourt trio of Maree Bowden, Kiley Hikawai and Hayley Crofts and defender Charlotte Kight continually getting in the way.
Tasi-Cordtz was disappointed with the end result but said she was proud of her team's effort.
"It was a pretty intense final and the first for a lot of these girls at this level. I think they will learn a lot from it."
Midcourter Shannon Francois, defender Louise Thayer and Selby-Rickit were the only Otago players to be named in the tournament team.
In the playoff for third and fourth, Bay of Plenty upset Wellington 53-42. Arahi Wall landed 33 of her 40 attempts and Harley Smith scored 20 from 27.
Wellington led 25-24 at halftime but, as it did against Otago in the semifinal a day earlier, it faded in the second half. The Bay outscored Wellington 15-9 in the third period and extended its lead further in the final quarter.
Auckland-Waitakere and Southland both survived their promotion-relegation games and will remain in division 1 next year. Auckland-Waitakere beat Western 52-48 and Southland had a comfortable 52-38 win against Waikato.
THE SCORES:-
National championships
• Canterbury 63
Ellen Halpenny 45 from 50, Sophia Fenwick 10/14, Gemma Hazeldine 8/14
• Otago 59
Te Paea Selby-Rickit 44/51, Jodi Brown 15/15)
• Quarter 17-15, halftime 33-28, third quarter 48-42
Other results:
North 69, Counties Manukau 42; Eastern 28, Tasman 64; Auckland Waitakere 52, Western 48; Bay of Plenty 53, Wellington 42; Waikato 52, Southland 38.
Final standings.- Division 1: Canterbury 1, Otago 2, Bay of Plenty Gold 3, Wellington 4, Auckland Waitakere 5, Southland 6 (relegated to ivision 2).
Division 2: Waikato 1 (promoted), Western 2, North 3, Counties Manukau 4, Tasman 5, Eastern 6.
Tournament team: Anna Galvan (Canterbury), Charlotte Kight (Canterbury), Portia Woodman (Auckland Waitakere), Maree Bowden (Canterbury), Sophia Fenwick (Canterbury), Shannon Francois (Otago), Te Paea Selby-Rickit (Otago), Louise Thayer (Otago), Keshia Grant (Waikato), Arahi Wall (Bay of Plenty), Jessica Tuki (Waikato)
Squads.-
2011-2012 National accelerant squad: Amber Bellringer (Western), Ellen Halpenny (Canterbury), Daya Pritchard (Wellington), Shannon Francois (Otago), Portia Woodman Auckland (Waitakere), Jess Moulds (North), Jess Tuki Waikato
NZ under-21 squad: Te Paea Selby-Rickitt (Otago), Sophia Fenwick (Canterbury), Tera-Maria Amani (Auckland Waitakere), Gemma Hazeldine (Canterbury), Erikana Pedersen (Auckland Waitakere), Nicola Mackle (Wellington), Sheridan Bignall (Western), Kirsten Hurley (Counties Manukau), Stacey Peeters (Otago), Emma Weenink (Wellington), Storm Purvis (Otago), Jess Bourke (Auckland Waitakere).
Emerging talent accelerant squad: Sarah Hayman (Canterbury), Elizabeth Hayman (Canterbury), Brooke Leaver (Western), Sam Sinclair (Bay of ), Nadia Loveday (Counties Manukau), Laura McClone (Wellington), Greer Patterson (Western).
