KEY POINTS:
So who is the best three-point shooter in New Zealand? Paora Winitana? Lindsay Tait? Paul Henare?
Not even close.
Having shot a remarkable six from six in North Harbour's WBL semifinal win over Wellington on Friday and seven from 10 in their final victory over Waikato on Saturday, that title surely must go to Natalie Purcell.
The 24-year-old was the dominant figure, picking up the MVP award as Harbour avenged last year's one-point final loss to Auckland with a comfortable 82-63 win over Waikato at Northcote AUT to claim the national title.
Having recently returned from a four-year stint at South East Missouri State University - and a year-long layoff due to a knee reconstruction - Purcell is a player who is going places: quite literally.
This week she's off to China with the Tall Ferns, for whom she debuted against Japan last month, and then she'll be heading south to join the Christchurch Wildcats for their debut season in the Australian WBL.
"It's nice," said Purcell of her and Harbour's achievements over the weekend. "But it's not my ultimate goal. It's a stepping stone for what I'm trying to achieve, which is to make it to the Olympics. It's not an easy road."
But on Saturday she sure made it look easy. Harbour coasted to the title, stretching out to a 73-45 lead at three-quarter time before Waikato staged a late rally once Harbour coach Brett Gobel rested his key players.
Harbour's dominance was underlined by the fact that they won the title without Natalie's sister Charmian, herself an experienced Tall Fern who will be out for at least six months after rupturing her anterior cruciate ligament on the recent trip to Japan.
With Olympians Donna Wilkins and Aneka Kerr already unavailable for China, Tall Ferns coach Mike McHugh has called in Otago guard Toni Edmondson, 20, who will make her first appearance for the national team.
In China the Tall Ferns will take on the hosts, ranked 10th in the world, Cuba (7th) and Argentina (12th).
