Otago spark in final

American forward Dana Goularte starred in the final as the Otago Gold Rush captured their first women’s basketball championship (WBC) title since 2015.

Otago overcame the Waikato Wizards 62-52 in the decider at their Edgar Centre home court in Dunedin on Saturday.

Goularte powered the Gold Rush with 22 points and nine rebounds in a standout performance. American-born Natalie Visger (14 points and nine rebounds) and Soraya UmagaJensen (11 points and 10 rebounds) both had busy showings for Otago.

Otago coach Todd Marshall praised his side, who won their ninth consecutive game on their march to the silverware.

‘‘We have had some tough games, which I don’t want to go through again, and even [on Saturday], although it ended up a

10 point margin, at the end it was still tough.’’

Tall Ferns’ teenage star Charlisse Leger-Walker did all she could to keep Waikato in the game, contributing 17 points, 12 rebounds, and five steals.

Otago took a 27-18 lead into halftime after restricting Waikato to just five second quarter points.

Waikato trimmed Otago’s advantage to 54-45 with four minutes left, but that was as close as they would get.

Auckland beat the Harbour Breeze 75-53 in the third and fourth playoff behind 32 points from Tall Ferns’ Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Natalie Taylor. The two-time defending champion Canterbury Wildcats were forced to settle for the plate (fifth spot). Canterbury edged Waikato Country 69-64 with Tall Fern Tessa Boagni shining with

26 points and 16 rebounds.