The Australian netball team have continued their remarkable winning streak against New Zealand, coming from behind in the final quarter to snatch a 51-47 victory to complete a 4-0 clean sweep in the Constellation Cup series.
While the teams have traditionally been closely matched in the last decade, the win in Auckland was Australia's ninth in a row against their old foes and marks a 17-game overall winning run.
This match was the Silver Ferns' most competitive performance of the series and they even held a four-goal lead with a quarter to go.
But the combination of goal shoot Caitlin Bassett and goal attack Natalie Medhurst, who came on in the second half, proved influential in the final stretch for the Diamonds, who tied the scores with four minutes to go before pulling ahead.
Australian coach Lisa Alexander said a clean sweep was something the Diamonds had targeted.
She praised her players' belief as they pegged back the Silver Ferns in the closing stages.
"It's something you can't just magically switch on with the group," she said.
"They have to develop it and I think this group has got that deep within them and they just knew how to find a way to win at the end."
For the Silver Ferns, centre Laura Langman, taking over as skipper for the injured Casey Kopua, was outstanding.
But New Zealand paid for a below-par shooting performance after putting up more shots than the Australians.
New Zealand began in determined fashion, with Langman leading the way.
However, Bailey Mes was having a shaky time under the post, shooting at just 50 per cent in the opening quarter, although the Silver Ferns were still able to stay just one goal behind at the first break.
New Zealand coach Waimarama Taumaunu made one change for the second quarter, giving Temalisi Fakahohotau her first cap and the young defender made her presence felt with a couple of impressive intercepts.
With Australia making some uncharacteristic mistakes and conceding plenty of penalties, New Zealand, at 22-21, held the halftime lead for the first time in the series.
Mes, whose movement created openings in the circle, improved her shooting accuracy to finish on 22 from 33, while Brown finished on 25 from 31.
But Australia - with Bassett shooting 20 from 22, and Medhurst with 10 from 10 - proved too strong at the death.
Taumaunu said the Silver Ferns could have used the services of injured skipper Kopua who suffered a serious knee injury in the third Test in Sydney and faces more than six months on the sidelines.
"We were much more competitive tonight but we probably missed Casey a bit in that last quarter," she said.
"She tends to be our go-to girl for end-of-game intercepts and we just did not take enough ball off them or stop their steam in that last quarter."
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