Ameliaranne Ekenasio sinks last-ditch shot to power Magic to extra-time win over Mystics

At Globox Arena, Hamilton: Magic 57 (Ameliaranne Ekenasio 29/34, Bailey Mes 28/39) Mystics 56 (Grace Nweke 39/42, Filda Vui 13/14) 1Q: 19-9, HT: 32-25, 3Q: 43-40, 4Q: 53-53

Ameliaranne Ekenasio drained the match-winning shot with time up to seal an extra-time thriller against the Northern Mystics on Sunday.

Playing in front of a vocal home ground, Ekenasio’s clutch shot with the last act of the match completed a hefty comeback in a game the Magic had trailed by 10 after the first quarter.

To think the Magic didn’t take their first lead of the game until the final minute of the first of two three-minute periods of extra-time, which had only been used to decide six previous ANZ Premiership games.

On a night opposite goal shoot Grace Nweke (39/42) didn’t miss her first shot until there was a shade over four minutes left on the clock, Ekenasio was superb at the opposite end, nailing a series of clutch shots down the stretch.

READ MORE:
* Katrina Rore comes out of retirement to help Northern Stars beat her former side
* Shooter Amelia Walmsley thought Pulse call-up was a prank by her Black Caps dad
* Whakaaro Māori helping to build unity at Northern Mystics
* Maia Wilson scores record 59 goals as Northern Stars inflict another heavy defeat on Southern Steel

Nweke missing two sitters opened the door for the Magic to get to within 52-50 with a few minutes left, before the scores were knotted up at 53-53 with 20 seconds left in regulation.

The Mystics got the ball to Nweke with a chance to win it in the waning seconds, but she couldn’t get a shot off in time.

If that wasn’t bad enough, Mystics wing defence Michaela Sokolich-Beatson failed to connect with Filda Vui with the scores tied at 56-56 in the final minute of extra-time, inviting Ekenasio to land the dagger blow.

Kudos to the Magic, who looked like they might be blown out for a second straight match when they trailed 19-9 after a sloppy opening quarter.

However, they crawled their way back the next three quarters against a side which looked to be cruising through cheat code shooter Nweke early doors.

Sokolich-Beatson made it clear they had to be better at halftime, ruing a shoddy offensive performance which saw them turn it over nine times in the first half.

Only nobody listened. When all was said and done, the Mystics had turned it over a whopping 22 times in a performance best described as sloppy.

Best on court

Ekenasio. Talk about stepping up and hitting pressure shots when it mattered. Nweke had this in the bag before two crunch misses from close-range in the final quarter.

The big moment

There were a stack of moments the Mystics will look back at and rue. However, none should be bigger than the opportunity they had to win it in the final seconds of regulation, only for Nweke to run out of time to do her thing.

Match rating

9/10. After a series of blowouts in the early rounds of the competition, a rare extra-time thriller went down a treat.

The big picture

An opportunity missed. Big time. The Mystics will know they should still be the last remaining undefeated team in the competition, and sitting atop the ladder. As for the Magic, their maiden win leaves the Steel as the only side without a scalp.