After a first half of wild scoring runs, the second half of the inaugural Women’s Basketball Championship (WBC) title game was almost pedestrian.

The Harbour Breeze, who won the last full New Zealand Women’s Basketball League championship in 2006, eased out to an 80-53 win over the Otago Gold Rush at Wellington’s Southwest Stadium on Saturday.

Following a first half that saw Harbour go from leading by 13 points to trailing by five to leading by 16 points at halftime, the current and former Tall Ferns-stacked Breeze gave Otago no chance in the third and fourth quarters.

“It’s about the calibre of players we have,” said Harbour coach Brett Goebel, the driving force behind the WBC this season.

“It’s the experience we have in our squad. When you’ve got ex Tall Ferns in your squad, it makes it easy for me as a coach. They’ve got this mentality that they’re not going to allow us to lose.”

Former Tall Ferns forward Charmian Purcell posted a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds in the final, earning WBC tournament team and most valuable player honours, .while Karlene Kingi finished with a game-high 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting.

The championship win completed a near-perfect season for the Breeze, winning 15 of their 16 games as they won the North Harbour and Dunedin tournaments that preceded the Wellington championship tournament.

Harbour, featuring former national women’s team players Purcell, Kingi, Jodi Cameron and Noni Wharemate and current squad members Pip Connell and Chelsea Terei, put the defensive clamps on the Gold Rush early, pushing out to a 16-3 lead in the first quarter.

Otago were held without a field goal until 2:04 remaining in the opening period but once the drought was broken, baskets came in a torrent.

With Tall Ferns guard Suzie Bates, who top-scored with 14 points, making a pair of threes, including one at the buzzer, Otago closed the quarter on a 14-2 run to get within a point. And when they started the second period scoring eight of the next 10 points the run was at 22-4 and the lead at five points.

“Otago always work their butts off and we didn’t expect anything less,” Purcell said. “We knew they didn’t care that we beat them last time. They were popping some great shots and making it tough for us.

“We had to go back to the basics and mainly it was defence. Our defence was lacking and we tidied that up. We started denying on the wings and talking in the middle and boxing out was big for us.”

After absorbing the Gold Rush’s best effort, Harbour turned it on.
A 24-3 burst in the last eight minutes on the second quarter gave them a 16-point halftime lead and control of the game.

The lead ballooned past 20, and then 30, points in the third as Otago were held to just four points over an eight-minute stretch.

Chanel Pompallier came off the bench to hit 4-of-5 three-point attempts in her 12 points, while Connell helped complete Harbour’s domination inside, backing up Kingi, Purcell and Cameron, with 10 points.

Bates hit 4-of-8 threes but as Otago’s main scoring threat drew great attention from Harbour defence. Elise Cassidy made a second half cameo with 13 points, including 3-of-5 treys, while 17-year-old Samara Gallaher, a Tall Ferns training squad player, finished with 11 points.

Bates and Cameron also earned tournament team selection, alongside former Tall Ferns captain Leanne Walker (Waikato Wizards) and Amber Bellringer (Taranaki Trojans).

Women’s Basketball Championship

Wellington Tournament

Southwest Stadium, Wellington

Saturday, August 22

Semifinals
Harbour Breeze 72 (Charmian Purcell 23, Karlene Kingi 12, Noni Wharemate 10, Jodi Cameron 10) Canterbury Wildcats 51 (Megan Shea 14, Georgina Richards 10)
1Q: 23-14
HT: 35-29 (12-15)
3Q: 52-42 (17-13)
FT: 72-51 (20-9)

Otago Gold Rush 63 (Suzie Bates 25, Janet Main 11, Danielle Calnan 10) Taranaki Trojans 50 (Zoe Kensington 9)
1Q: 18-14
HT: 29-27 (11-13)
3Q: 50-37 (21-10)
FT: 63-50 (13-13)

7th-8th Classification
Wellington Swish 88 (Molly McCallum 19, Renee Leota 17, Fairen Lepaio 15, Jasmine Davis 15) NZ Academy 83 (Jelena Vucinic 24, Milika Nathan 14, Anna Lacey 14, Lisa Scott 10)
1Q: 14-24
HT: 50-38 (36-14)
3Q: 71-62 (21-24)
FT: 88-83 (17-21)

9th-10th Classification
GABBA Gators 72 (Stevee Theyers 22, Adoniah Lewis 13, Emma Gillespie 12, Ema Bryant 10) Hutt Valley 53 (Mariana Cowan 14, Ava Filipo 10, Liz McKie 10)
1Q: 14-7
HT: 30-30 (16-23)
3Q: 47-39 (17-9)
FT: 72-53 (25-14)

Plate Final
Waikato Wizards 73 (Miriam Slatter 21, Leanne Walker 19, Natasha Lenden 16) Waikato Cougars 65 (Moengaroa Subritzky 19, Letava Whippy 18, Shiana Harris 15)
1Q: 21-22
HT: 42-29 (21-7)
3Q: 57-49 (15-20)
FT: 73-65 (16-16)

Championship Final
Harbour Breeze 80 (Karlene Kingi 22, Charmian Purcell 21, Chanel Pompallier 12, Pip Connell 10) Otago Gold Rush 53 (Suzie Bates 14, Elise Cassidy 13, Samara Gallaher 11)
1Q: 18-17
HT: 44-28 (26-11)
3Q: 67-39 (23-11)
FT: 80-53 (13-14