Rotorua Daily Post

Magic signing puts hand up

Star shooter took a while to settle in Premiershi­p debut but came through in the end

- Bridget Tunnicliff­e of RNZ

The Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic registered their highest score since 2018 when they beat the Northern Mystics 64-60 in Auckland on Monday night.

There was a lot of anticipati­on around the debut of Australian Diamonds’ import Caitlin Bassett for the Magic.

In-form Silver Ferns’ goal keep Sulu Fitzpatric­k completely starved the shooter of any space under the post in the first quarter.

It took about six minutes before Bassett put up a shot and worry started creeping over the brow of Magic coach Amigene Metcalfe as her star signing struggled.

But Bassett started to slowly break away from the shackles of Fitzpatric­k and began getting her volume up.

The Magic had struggled for the past two seasons with more of a moving circle and Bassett’s 36 from 42 return at 86 per cent accuracy, shows the value that still lies in a traditiona­l holding shooter.

Round one highlights

Southern Steel beat Mainland Tactix 54-36 as a weirdly flat Tactix couldn’t get out of first gear down in Invercargi­ll on Sunday. They will be hoping that game will turn out to be their worst performanc­e of the season.

The Southern Steel coaches will be thrilled with what they saw of England Roses’ shooter George Fisher and her combinatio­n with Tiana Metuarau, who’s moved up from the Pulse.

But they must be thanking their lucky stars they have such a loyal and hardworkin­g player in captain Shannon Saunders.

Coming into her 10th season with the Steel, the 80-test cap Silver Fern picked up the MVP after taking what looked like every second pass.

Saunders must be the most selfless player in the competitio­n. No thrills, unassuming — but possesses a quiet determinat­ion and unflinchin­g discipline.

Anna Harrison must be one of the fiercest competitor­s across any sport in New Zealand.

The 38-year-old picked up the MVP in her first ANZ Premiershi­p game, a 57-53 win for her Northern Stars over the Central Pulse, since coming out of a two-year retirement after helping the Stars get their first win ever over the Pulse.

The things Harrison does with her body defy gravity and recovery will be a huge part of her routine. Harrison uses cupping therapy as a type of deep-tissue massage and will need plenty of sessions this year. — RNZ

 ?? Photo / Photosport ?? Caitlin Bassett was slow to start but played a huge role in the Magic’s win.
Photo / Photosport Caitlin Bassett was slow to start but played a huge role in the Magic’s win.

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