Mojo Pulse (49) defeated Kia Magic (38)   31 Mar 2015

Media Release
Monday 30 March 2015

Official Result & Statistics

Official Result: Mojo Pulse (49) defeated Kia Magic (38)

After a slow start to the season, Mojo Pulse finally found a consistent beat in shaking off Kia Magic, 49-38, in Wellington tonight.

It was only the second win of the year for the Pulse, but a much-improved performance by their experienced players gave their fans a welcome boost of confidence. It was also a shot-in-the-arm for world-class shooters Irene van Dyk and Jodi Brown, who shared the shooting load and kept the scoreboard frequently ticking over with a solid 80 percent accuracy.

With the Pulse’s attack suffering from the wobbles up until this match, coach Robyn Broughton turned to her veteran shooting duo to fire up the starting line-up, and her faith was rewarded as the home-side skipped out to an early three-goal lead.

But the youth-filled Magic defence – marshalled by the experienced head of Leana de Bruin - were relentlessly patient, and their perseverance soon paid off by drawing level.

By the end of the quarter, though, the Pulse had claimed a degree of dominance. Van Dyk was the only shooter on court not to miss a shot, and goal keep Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit, on her return from injury, was quick with her hands, and disruptive under the feet of the Magic attack.

Down 12-9, the Magic attempted to trouble the Pulse’s tempo by moving de Bruin back to goal keep to shut down van Dyk. But in a feeding frenzy - wing attack Liana Leota whizzing around the circle edge, and Brown at her charismatic best - the Pulse scored a stunning seven-in-a-row to push the margin out to 10.

The Magic struggled with the weight of their passes in to shooters Jo Harten and Ellen Halpenny, too often looking to the long ball to solve their problems. The shooting duo also found themselves darting in and out of the circle trying to elude Selby-Rickit and Katrina Grant.

But the Magic’s first change in personnel came at the opposite end, with Jo Trip joining de Bruin in the circle to try to stem the torrent of Pulse goals. While they managed to stop the gap from growing, it was the Pulse who were all smiles as they left the court 27-17 ahead at halftime.

De Bruin led the Magic’s third-quarter mission, doing her utmost to smother her former teammate, but Brown still managed to find the slimmest avenues to get the ball into van Dyk’s hands. While the Pulse were forced to go with the flow, goal-for-goal, for much of the quarter, they broke away again with purpose in the last few minutes to lead by 15, 41-26.

Looking for more opportunities under the net, the Magic brought promising young shooter Malia Paseka on court to support Harten. And although the visitors won the quarter 12-8, it was too little too late to stop the Pulse.

There were some heartening moments for the Magic, though, with Sam Sinclair stealing some ball at wing defence, and Jamie-Lee Price standing strong against more experienced opponents in the midcourt.

Pulse shooting statistics:
Irene van Dyk 24/30 (80%)
Jodi Brown 25/30 (83%)

Magic shooting statistics:
Jo Harten 25/30 (83%)
Ellen Halpenny 11/13 (85%)
Malia Paseka 2/3 (67%)

MVP: Jodi Brown (Mojo Pulse)

END

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