The Northern Mystics have claimed their first victory of the ANZ Premiership season with a 64-58 win over the Southern Steel in Auckland.
The Mystics were coming off the back of a tight opening round loss to the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic, but they responded well and were lead by shooter Grace Nweke.
After three standout seasons for the Mystics, Nweke started the season slowly shooting 49 from 59 against the Magic but she returned to her fine form on Saturday that saw her catapult herself into the Silver Ferns squad in 2020.
The 19-year-old shot an impressive 56 from 60 shots to cause the Steel defenders trouble all evening. She combined well with Silver Fern Bailey Mes (eight from nine shots) to see their side run away with a six-point victory.
The Mystics made a fast start racing out to a 10-goal lead at the end of the first quarter, which was highlighted by the visitor's inaccuracies with the ball in hand to record seven turnovers.
The Steel improved in the second stanza with English international George Fisher starring shooting an impressive 20 from 20 shots in the opening half but the Southerners still trailed by nine.
The visitors came out strong in the second half to close the gap to just seven goals with Fisher continuing her impressive night finishing with a blemish-free 42 from 42 shots but the lead was just too big to overturn with the Mystics holding on for a six-point victory.
The Mystics are next in action against the Canterbury Tactix in nine days time while the Steel will take on the defending champions Central Pulse in eight days time.
Northern Mystics 64 (Nweke 56/60, Mes 8/9) bt Southern Steel 58 (George Fisher 42/42, Tiana Metuarau 16/21)
