A stunning reversal of fortunes has seen the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic claim a dramatic 57-48 extra-time ANZ Championship preliminary final win over the Northern Mystics.
The home side looked to be headed for Melbourne when they held a 43-41 lead with two minutes remaining in the final quarter of normal time before the Magic roared back to life.
Leana de Bruin came up with a crucial intercept that gave the Magic possession before the inspirational Irene van Dyk levelled the scores to send the match into extra-time.
-
Related
From that point on there was no stopping the visitors who stunned the Mystics with 13 goals to four in the two periods of over-time to claim an emphatic victory.
The win marks the Magic's eleventh win on the trot as their fairytale finish to the season continues with the Big Dance still to come against the Vixens in Melbourne next Sunday.
The match was a quality affair befitting its status as a preliminary final, with the scores locked at 12-all after the first quarter.
The Magic raced ahead by four early in the second stanza though the Mystics showed their class to peg them back to trail 24-23 at half-time.
Six minutes into the third-quarter and the tide began to turn as the Mystics levelled at 30-all before they blitzed the visitors to create a a four-goal lead of 39-35 by the final break.
The Mystics rode that wave of dominance throughout the final period with Catherine Latu showing all her skills and composure as the magic looked all out of ideas in front of a roaring opposition crowd.
Yet with less than two minutes on the clock, van Dyk showed her value to nail two goals and stun the home side with normal-time closing at 44-all.
The Magic's Casey Williams played through the pain barrier to help ensure her side lost no momentum and in fact they gained some, hardly putting a foot wrong in the over-time period as Mystic's veteran Temepara George's hopes of a dream finish evaporated in front of her eyes.
An ecstatic Magic side celebrated their win with gusto yet they will know a bigger and better effort will be required of them next week.