Down 15 points at halftime, victory was looking unlikely for the Wellington Swish on day one of the North Harbour Tournament at the Women’s Basketball Championship on Thursday.

But powered by point guard Sezen Mercan and small forward Melissa LeToa, Wellington scored 50 of their total in the third and fourth quarters as they defeated the Waikato Wizards 76-72 in section A at AUT, on Auckland’s North Shore.

Turkey-born Mercan led the Swish with 18 points, including four three-pointers, while LeToa had 12 points, as they outscored Waikato 22-15 in the third period and 28-16 in the final 10 minutes.

Natasha Lenden, wife of Waikato Pistons forward Puke Lenden, scored a game-high 22 points for the Wizards, who also got 18 points from USA college-based Alana Auld.

Also in section A, the most recent national women’s champions, the Harbour Breeze, started their campaign with a hard-fought 66-56 win over the NZ Academy team.

Tall Ferns forward Charmian Purcell top-scored with 24 points, while former Tall Fern Karlene Kingi added 12 points for Harbour, who led by seven points after the first quarter and were able to hold out the national development squad. Northland’s Sian Telfer had 14 points and local Harbour age-group player Anna Lacey had 12 points for the Academy.

In section B, the Waikato Cougars – a combination of Church College and Hamilton’s Fraser High – Canterbury Wildcats and Otago Gold Rush picked up wins on Thursday.

Fijian international Letava Whippy scored 25 points to lead the Cougars to an 86-71 win over the GABBA Gators, while former Junior Tall Fern Erin Rooney led the way with 25 points as Canterbury defeated the Taranaki Trojans 68-59.

Danielle Calnan top-scored with 15 points as the Gold Rush, who started their days at 5am in Dunedin, handed the Gators their second loss of the day, 63-55, making their break with an impressive second quarter.

June Tournament

Thursday, June 18

Section A
Harbour Breeze 66 (Charmian Purcell 24, Karlene Kingi 12) NZ Academy 56 (Sian Telfer 14, Anna Lacey 12)

Wellington Swish 76 (Sezen Mercan 18, Melissa LeToa 12) Waikato Wizards 72 (Natasha Lenden 22, Alana Auld 18)

Harbour Breeze 94 (Charmian Purcell 25, Justine Reed 18, Karlene Kingi 12, Pip Charlesworth 11, Chanel Pompallier 10) Waikato Wizards 53 (Natasha Lenden 18, Alana Auld 12)

Wellington Swish 100 (Melissa LeToa 25, Sezen Mercan 21, Rebecca van Kuyk 13, Fairen Lepaio 12) NZ Academy 98 (Milika Nathan 31, Anna Lacey 23, Megan Craig 12)

Section B
Waikato Cougars 86 (Letava Whippy 25, Freda Riwai 15, Kalani Purcell 14) GABBA Gators 71 (Priscilla Roberts 23, Stevee Theyers 18, Adoniah Lewis 15)

Canterbury Wildcats 68 (Erin Rooney 25, Sophie Ward 11, Megan Shea 10) Taranaki Trojans 59 (Amber Bellringer 18)

Otago Gold Rush 63 (Danielle Calnan 15, Renee Johnson 10) GABBA Gators 55 (Nina Nilsen 10)

Waikato Cougars 66 (Letava Whippy 16, Kyler Parai 13, Kalani Purcell 11, Freda Riwai 10) Canterbury Wildcats 61 (Erin Rooney 20, Georgina Richards 14, Shea Crotty 12)

Otago Gold Rush 69 (Renee Johnson 18, Janet Main 15, Danielle Calnan 15) Taranaki Trojans 65 (Amber Bellringer 22, Terai Sadler 17) OT