IN what was a remarkable two weeks of the Northern Quad Series there was plenty of individual success stories. While the world number ones, Australia took out the title once again, each side had at least one win and a loss, emphasising the tight competition between the four nations ranked in four of the top five positions in the world.

South Africa caused a boilover when it toppled home side, England, while also pushing Australia and New Zealand all the way. A huge reason for South Africa’s improvement were the likes of goal shooter, Lenize Potgieger, wing attack, Bongi Msomi, and the defensive pairing of Karla Pretorius and Shadine Van Der Merwe.  All four made our Team of the Series, with Pretorius also named Player of the Series. Potgieter was clearly the standout scorer of the competition, and while she played more minutes than her other shooters due to the overtime game against New Zealand, she still recorded the fourth highest accuracy of the tournament.

Title winners Australia had two shooters in the top five for goals and accuracy, with Caitlin Thwaites scoring 63 goals at 95.5 per cent accuracy, just below Gretel Tippett‘s 67 at 95.7 per cent. Liz Watson was prolific through the midcourt with four more goal assists than any other player, as well as the second most feeds, but also conceded the second highest turnovers. Courtney Bruce had five rebounds which was the equal most of the tournament with New Zealand’s Casey Kopua and South Africa’s Phumza Maweni.

England came agonisingly close to stealing the Quad Series title in front of a home crowd, but just fell short on goal percentage. They had a number of standouts with Jo Harten scoring 68 goals and was the sixth most accurate shooter, while Chelsea Pitman (40 goal assists and 48 centre pass feeds) was crucial in the midcourt. Serena Guthrie was a rock in the centre spot, showing her experience on the court in crucial moments against the Diamonds. Guthrie recorded the second most deflections of the tournament, behind only teammate and arguably the world’s best goalkeeper, Geva Mentor.

New Zealand would have had disappointing moments knowing they missed out on capitalising at times against England and Australia, but got the job done against South Africa under immense pressure. Maria Folau was strong with 95 goals – the second most of the tournament – at 85.6 per cent accuracy. Fellow shooter, Ameliaranne Ekanasio was strong under the ring with four rebounds, one less than teammate and defender, Kopua. Gina Crampton had 45 goal assists to be third overall for the Northern Quad Series, while her 64 centre pass receives were the most of the series.

GOALS:

1 Lenize Potgieter (RSA) 114
2 Maria Folau (NZL) 95
3 Jo Harten (ENG) 68
4 Gretel Tippett (AUS) 67
5 Caitlin Thwaites (AUS) 63

SHOOTING ACCURACY:

1 Rachel Dunn (ENG) 96%
2 Gretel Tippett (AUS) 95.7%
3 Caitlin Thwaites (AUS) 95.5%
4 Lenize Potgieter (RSA) 91.9%
5 Maria Folau (NZL) 85.6%

GOAL ASSISTS:

1 Liz Watson (AUS) 54
2 Bongi Msomi (RSA) 50
3 Gina Crampton (NZL) 45
4 Erin Burger (RSA) 43
5 Chelsea Pitman (ENG) 40

REBOUNDS:

1 Casey Kopua (NZL) 5
1 Courtney Bruce (AUS) 5
1 Phumza Maweni (RSA) 5
4 Ameliaranne Ekanasio (NZL) 4
4 Jo Weston (AUS) 4
4 Karla Pretorius (RSA) 4

CENTRE PASS RECEIVES:

1 Gina Crampton (NZL) 64
2 Bongi Msomi (RSA) 58
3 Kelsey Browne (AUS) 50
4 Chelsea Pitman (ENG) 48
5 Gretel Tippett (AUS) 46

FEEDS:

1 Bongi Msomi (RSA) 95
2 Liz Watson (AUS) 75
3 Erin Burger (RSA) 71
4 Chelsea Pitman (ENG) 66
5 Gina Crampton (NZL) 61
5 Serena Guthrie (ENG) 61

INTERCEPTS:

1 Karla Pretorius (RSA) 8
2 Casey Kopua (NZL) 7
3 Karin Burger (NZL) 5
4 Courtney Bruce (AUS) 4
4 Jane Watson (NZL) 4
4 Geva Mentor (ENG) 4

DEFLECTIONS:

1 Geva Mentor (ENG) 13
2 Serena Guthrie (ENG) 11
3 Karla Pretorius (RSA) 10
4 Jane Watson (NZL) 9
5 Shadine Van Der Merwe (RSA) 8

PENALTIES:

1 Phumza Maweni (RSA) 53
2 Casey Kopua (NZL) 51
3 Erin Burger (RSA) 45
4 Geva Mentor (ENG) 44
5 Jane Watson (NZL) 38

TURNOVERS:

1 Bongi Msomi (RSA) 18
2 Liz Watson (AUS) 17
3 Serena Guthrie (ENG) 14
3 Gretel Tippett (AUS) 14
3 Lenize Potgieger (RSA) 14