The Northern Mystics moved further up the ANZ Premiership ladder on Saturday night with a hard-earned 55-47 win over Te Wānanga o Raukawa Pulse at Te Rauparaha Arena in Porirua, sealing their first back-to-back victories of the 2026 season and pushing the home side to the brink of an early exit from the playoff race.
The Mystics led for almost the entire 60 minutes but were never able to shake a Pulse outfit that fought far harder than its one-win-from-four record coming into the match suggested they might. Tia Winikerei’s side opened with the kind of intensity that has been their calling card across the past three rounds, putting Pulse import shooter Ine-Marí Venter under siege from the opening whistle. Venter managed only two goals before being substituted after seven minutes for Khiarna Williams, and the Mystics took a three-goal lead into the first break.
The Pulse responded in the second quarter with a reshuffled shooting circle and won the period outright, dragging themselves back to within a single goal at halftime and lifting the Porirua crowd into full voice. Co-captain and former Silver Ferns goal attack Ameliaranne Ekenasio finished with 26 goals for the night, her best individual return of the season. With limited support around her, however, the Pulse simply could not match the Mystics’ weight of feed and accuracy in the goal circle.
The third quarter was where the Mystics turned the screw. Sophia Lafaiali’i continued to demand the high ball from wing attack Peta Toeava, finishing with 34 shots across 45 minutes on court. Inside her, Tayla Earle, playing her 100th ANZ Premiership match, set the tempo through the mid-court and added a steady stream of feeds. By the final break the Mystics had moved out to 42-38 and the home side were beginning to look tired.
The fourth quarter belonged to Mystics defender Catherine Hall, whose tap-aways and intercepts forced repeated turnovers as the Pulse pressed for a comeback. Hall left the court late with what appeared to be an ankle injury after a collision with the post, but by then the Mystics had the game safely in hand and the bench was able to manage the closing minutes.
Pulse wing defence Ainsleyana Puleiata was one of the few bright spots for the home side, hounding Toeava and picking off several intercepts in the second half. Her work, alongside Ekenasio’s accuracy under pressure, kept the contest alive longer than the underlying numbers deserved.
For the Mystics, the win is a meaningful step. They opened the season slowly but, after a 52-43 victory over the defending champion Tactix last weekend, have now stitched together back-to-back wins for the first time under Winikerei. The result lifts them firmly into the upper half of the ladder and confirms a steady upward trajectory heading into the second half of the regular season. Full details of the match are in the RNZ match report.
For the Pulse, the picture is bleaker. A fourth defeat from five matches leaves the side facing a steep climb to make the four-team finals series, and the questions around their shooting circle are growing louder. Venter, signed in the off-season as the new go-to shooter, has yet to settle into the New Zealand competition, and the early hook on Saturday night suggested the coaching staff want to know what other options are available before the rounds run out.
Saturday’s result also continued a striking trend in this year’s competition. Visiting teams have now won the bulk of recent fixtures in the round-by-round draw, and home-court advantage looks far less reliable than it has in past seasons. With the Tactix sitting near the top of the table after their dramatic title win last year, and the Mystics now gathering momentum at the right end of the calendar, the Auckland and Christchurch franchises are once again starting to dictate the shape of the competition.
Earle’s milestone match was a quietly significant moment in its own right. Now in her sixth ANZ Premiership season, the former under-21 captain has become a steady on-court presence for the Mystics, and Saturday was the first time she has marked a personal milestone with a win on Pulse territory. The Mystics also gave minutes through the back half of the match to several younger squad members, a useful sign for a side that has often struggled with depth when injuries hit.
Winikerei was nonetheless quick to point out that her side still had improvement in front of them, particularly in that second quarter when the Pulse closed the gap and stripped some of the early control out of the contest. The Mystics now turn their attention to the next round of fixtures with the wind firmly at their back.
The Pulse, meanwhile, have only weeks to find their best shooting combination and a way to convert pressure into possession. Without a turnaround, they look set to miss the playoffs for the first time in several seasons. Coverage of the wider round and the rest of the ANZ Premiership weekend is available at RNZ Sport.
What did you make of the Mystics’ performance in Porirua, and do you think the Pulse can still make a run at the playoffs from here? Drop your thoughts in the comments below.
This article was written by AI, briefed to report the facts, hopefully without some of the bias people bring to the job 🙂
Leave a Reply