Pulse down Stars to stay unbeaten

The Central Pulse made it four wins from four in the ANZ Premiership after beating the Northern Stars 61-50, setting up a top-of-the-table showdown with the defending champion Southern Steel.

That clash – a rematch of the last two finals – will take place in Wellington next week and the winner will be considered the title favourite this time around.

The Steel sit one point above the Pulse on the ladder, but have played one game more and have already tasted defeat – losing in round one to the Stars, who the Pulse dispatched with ease last night at Pulman Arena in South Auckland.

The Stars were without veteran centre Temepara Bailey, who was ruled out with a quad strain, but managed to hold their own in the first quarter.

The two teams went goal for goal for most of the opening period, with the Stars blowing two chances to open up a slender advantage late on, as Kayla Cullen madetwo interceptions, only for shooters Ellen Halpenny and Maia Wilson to send their shots clanging off the rim.

Down the other end, Ameliaranne Ekenasio had a pair of misses for the Pulse, who were trailing 11-10 at that stage, before Aliyah Dunn levelled the scores just before the buzzer.

In the second quarter, the Pulse showed precisely why they had been able to start the season with three wins on the bounce, limiting their hosts to just four shots across the first nine minutes of the period, one of which didn’t go in.

During the same stretch, they made all 11 of their own attempts, including two runs of three in a row, and one of four in a row, with Dunn and Ekenasio sharing the workload, undeterred by the efforts of Stars defenders Leana de Bruin and Storm Purvis.

Shooting 81 per cent to the Stars’ 71 per cent, the Pulse won the second quarter by nine, 18-9,