Melbourne Vixens have rolled to their fifth straight Super Netball win after thumping the Adelaide Thunderbirds 75-54 at Priceline Stadium on Saturday night.
The Vixens didn't look like missing early, were sternly challenged mid-match before ultimately steamrolling the bottom-placed Thunderbirds in a fourth-quarter rout to notch the highest team score this season.
Melbourne skipped to an early 11-4 lead courtesy of an 8-1 mid-quarter flurry before the home side inched within two goals against the grain to steal the momentum, briefly.
Dead-eyed shooting from Vixens spearheads Mwai Kumwenda and Tegan Phillip, both perfect with 10 goals apiece without a miss, allowed Melbourne to get back on top and lead 20-13 at quarter-time.
The Vixens' first miss came on their 25th attempt but they still managed to hold sway 36-31 at half-time despite Adelaide marginally having the better of the second stanza, Chelsea Pitman prolific and Karyn Bailey efficient in the circle.
Little separated the two sides through much of the third period before Melbourne again managed to wrestle free and gain control late, up 54-42 at three-quarter-time.
The Vixens carried that momentum through a dominant fourth quarter as the Thunderbirds, so spirited beforehand, fell away noticeably to slump to their seventh consecutive loss.
Adelaide coach Dan Ryan said it felt strange getting blown away by such a hefty margin after fighting so competitively through most of the contest.
"It's such a strange feeling, to be honest," he said.
"What we'll take away from this game is that there's great potential within our group.
"We produced arguably the best netball we've played all season.
"Irrespective of the scoreline we looked better than we ever have as a group which is a really pleasing sign."
Melbourne coach Simone McKinnis concurred with Ryan.
"It felt like a really tight match," Melbourne coach Simone McKinnis said.
"Yes, it opened up in the end but we had to work really hard and that's a credit to the Thunderbirds."
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