Mystics' shooter Cathrine Latu bounced back from a recent health battle to lift her side to a composed win over the Tactix in Christchurch last night.
After giving the Tactix a seven-goal head start in the opening spell, the Mystics ground down the home side, producing a strong second half to claim a 59-53 win to top the New Zealand conference after the opening round.
With Latu still recovering from appendix surgery six weeks ago, the Mystics opted to start with new 1.92m shooting recruit Elsa Brown.
Brown made a shaky start in her ANZ Championship debut, missing a few early sitters from underneath the post and lacked the assertiveness needed at this level. Down the other end of the court another debutant was thriving, with Gemma Hazeldine impressing in her first appearance for the Tactix. The young goal attack was the talk of last month's pre-season tournament in Sydney and she proved just as comfortable on the big stage, combining brilliantly with import Mwai Kumwenda to produce some stunning play. At 1.70m tall, Hazeldine offers a very different style to other goal attacks in this country, with her speed, movement and crafty delivery into the circle hallmarks of her game.
With the Mystics struggling to find the same sort of fluency on attack, the Tactix rattled off eight straight goals to take a 17-10 lead at the first break - an advantage that could have been even greater had they not made three errors on their own centre pass early on.
