Fever 63 Pulse 45
Euphoria was substituted for more a familiar emotion as the Central Pulse succumbed 63-45 to fellow ANZ Championship netball competition struggler West Coast Fever in Perth last night.
Highs associated with last weekend's defeat of the wooden-spoon rivals Canterbury Tactix - the first win of the campaign and only second in their history - ebbed away at the Challenge Stadium as the Fever completed a round of near total Australian domination.
Reverting to transtasman matches for the first time since round five in April, the defending champion Melbourne Vixens were the only Australian side to slip up - beaten 52-39 by the Steel in Dunedin on Sunday.
Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic were pipped by one goal in last night's first match against the Queensland Firebirds, joining the Mystics and Tactix as 11th round losers.
The Pulse duly closed out a glum schedule for the New Zealand sides, paying the ultimate penalty for a slow and inaccurate start against Australia's worst performed franchise.
It also left the Pulse back at the foot of the table on a points differential on -131, compared to the Tactix -130.
Silver Fern Paula Griffin played her usual productive role under the hoop - but for shooting partner and captain Jane Altschwager the opening two quarters probably represented the nadir of her troubled move to the capital.
Occasional Australian international defender Susan Furhmann made life miserable for her compatriot, leaving Pulse coach Yvette McCausland-Durie to end her goal shoot's agony late in the second quarter after she had missed six of 10 attempts.
Furhmann at 1.96-metres tall held only a 3cm height advantage over the gangly Altschwager but in reality the gulf in class was more extreme. The introduction of Jamilah Gupwell could not swing momentum the Pulse's way but the rarely seen shooter - who is ranked behind Altschwager and an injured Te Amo Amaru-Tibble as foil for Griffin - contributed a more than respectable 12 from 14.
Griffin inevitably assumed the goal scoring responsibility and although she also had her issues with Furhmann she made 29 from 38.
Goal attack Caitlin Bassett, who also struggles for game time in the national side, mirrored Griffin's role albeit with superior service as she and Leah Shoard built an impregnable platform by propelling the hosts to a 16-9 lead at quarter time.
The Pulse strengthened in the run to halftime, losing the quarter 13-14, but Bassett and Shoard ensured the Fever's midcourt superiority - thanks to an influential Madison Browne - translated into another commanding performance in the third term.
Bassett nailed 41 from 50 while Shoard (22/30) was a useful ally until spelled by coach Jane Searle in the final quarter.
In all the Fever's duo put up 80 shots to the Pulse's 62, emphasising the home side's ability to treasure possession and prey on Pulse indecision.
The Fever - who matched their highest ever score in the competition - remain eighth.
Pulse goalkeep Katrina Grant did not mince words when asked to appraise the performance: "It was pretty rubbish eh. Watching that and the scoreline, it's not nice.
"We definitely came over here knowing we had a chance and to get a goal differential above the Tactix at the bottom of the ladder but it wasn't to be."
- NZPA
