University of Newcastle remain on target to complete a perfect season in Newcastle championship netball after a convincing 52-36 win over Nova Thunder at National Park on Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Nova were looking to rebound after sustaining their first win of the season in the previous round but University produced what is becoming a trademark dominant first quarter to set up their sixth straight victory.
They led 17-10 at the first break, 28-16 at half-time then 42-23 heading into the final period.
University coach Traci Baber said belief was strong this year as they eyed two more victories in the final matches of the modified season due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"I don't think we've lost a first quarter this year and we've won it really well every week," Baber said. "We turn over ball and convert and it was a great 15 minutes again.
"Hopefully we can finish with two wins and finish the year undefeated."
Baber reserved special praise for goal defence Angela Williams, who has been in consistently strong form this year.
"I've never seen her play like this," Baber said. "She's an Australian mixed representative, a NSW indoor player and has always been a good player, but this year she's just doing some amazing, extraordinary things. I think all the girls are just in a really good space."
Inner Glow bounced back from their 30-goal loss to University in round six to beat BNC Whanau 43-28.
They led 10-7 at quarter-time, 20-16 at half-time and 29-21 heading into the last quarter in what Inner Glow player-coach Jessika Christensen described as their most consistent performance.
"They had more of a moving circle and it took our defenders the first quarter to get used to that but after that they were picking things up everywhere," Christensen said.
"Tegan Sherman and Caitlin Davis were really strong in the defence end and our attack end jelled together nicely.
"We're pretty surprised with how we've gone this year. It didn't start well. We lost our coach and we lost a couple of players for different reasons but we've only had the one game, against Uni last week, that was a massive blow-out. So we're really happy with how we've gone so far and it's just something to build on for next year."
Souths led at every break in their 57-27 win over Kotara South and West Leagues Balance were also ahead at the end of each quarter in their 54-24 victory over Junction Stella.
Round 7 results:
University of Newcastle beat Nova Thunder 52-36. Q1: Uni 17-10, Q2: Uni 28-16, Q3: Uni 42-23.
Inner Glow beat BNC Whanau 43-28. Q1: Inner Glow 10-7, Q2: Inner Glow 20-16, Q3: Inner Glow 29-21.
Souths beat Kotara South 57-27. Q1: Souths 13-8, Q2: Souths 26-13, Q3: Souths 42-18.
West Leagues Balance beat Junction Stella 54-24. Q1: West 13-7, Q2: West 29-11, Q3: West 44-17.
Points:
University of Newcastle 18, Souths 16, Nova Thunder 14, West Leagues Balance 12, Inner Glow 12, BNC Whanau 10, Kotara South 8, Junction Stella 6.