Vixens bounce back with crushing win

Mar 31, 2014 - 8:53 AM Melbourne Vixens rediscovered their winning mojo in crushing Canterbury Tactix 67-43 in their trans-Tasman netball league clash in Christchurch on Monday.

Led a superb defensive effort from circle defenders Bianca Chatfield and Geva Mentor, the Vixens bounced back from their 49-44 defeat to the Magic last week with a more controlled performance which catapulted them from fifth on the ladder to second.

The Tactix went into the match on a high after snapping a 10-match losing streak in beating the Pulse 55-53 last week, but they buckled under unrelenting full court pressure.

Madison Robinson and Liz Watson dominated the midcourt, working the ball quickly and cleanly into the circle where Karyn Bailey and Tegan Caldwell were in outstanding form.

Between them, the shooters missed just seven shots over four quarters in the high-scoring game.

Bailey sank 43 from 48, and Caldwell 24 from 26 in a non-stop 60-minute effort the Tactix could do little to disrupt.

But it was on defence that the Vixens shone. Mentor's long reach and timing kept Tactix shooter Mwai Kumwenda hesitant and reluctant to put up the shot, and her combination with Chatfield shut down options in the circle for the Tactix midcourt.

Malawi international Kumwenda's customary accuracy faltered and her shooting volume dropped as she sank 30 of her 38 attempts.

She spent more time than she should have out of the circle, trying to help out her feeders, who were pushed wide by the Vixens defence and struggled to shift clean ball down court quickly.

A five-goal run at the end of the first quarter gave the Vixens a 17-12 lead, a margin they trebled in the second quarter to lead 36-21 at halftime.

The Tactix battled back in the third stanza, scoring the first six goals and going on to take the quarter 10-9 at trim Melbourne's lead to 45-31.

But the Vixens stretched out to win the closing quarter 22-12, looking increasingly comfortable.

Source: AAP