University of Newcastle end Souths' unbeaten start to take top spot in Newcastle championship netball: Round 6

After "limping through" the earlier rounds of the season due to injuries an unavailability, Baber has revelled in having a full complement of players for University's past two outings.

They pipped other finals contenders Nova by one goal in round five then set up their 49-39 win over Lions in round six at National Park on Saturday with a flying start and strong finish under pressure.

University took a 13-7 lead into the first break, were up 20-18 at half-time then ahead 35-28 going into the final period.

Souths got within four goals in the last quarter and were in a position to close the gap to three but could not convert their centre and University pulled away for the 10-goal victory.

"The first couple of minutes [of the last quarter], things didn't go our way but we've definitely matured as a team and the girls can feel it," Baber said.

"They came off and said, 'Normally when those sort of things happen to us in previous years, we've always had the talent, we just haven't handled those sort of situations well and now we seem to be able to'.

"Maybe they're just a little older, a little bit more experienced and they know now that it doesn't really matter if they throw a few bad balls or turn balls over because we're going to get it back."

Lions coach Tracey van Dal conceded they were "beaten by a better team today".

"We weren't tight enough in our full-court defensive pressure in that first quarter," van Dal said.

"We addressed that at first break and rectified it in the second quarter, but just that first quarter got away from us and they were able to push on with it at the end.

"Pretty much all game we were chasing that six-goal lead that we allowed them to get at the end of the first quarter and, against a team like Uni, to peg back six is quite difficult.

"But to their credit they played a really nice game. They barely threw ball away. It was a nice performance by Uni. They rarely made mistakes. So we didn't have many opportunities to be able to pin it back."

The win moved University level with Souths on 17 points with the former taking top spot on goal difference.

Nova and West Leagues Balance are two points behind on 15.

Nova defeated Kotara South 62-34, West downed Junction Stella 50-41 and BNC were 45-28 winners over Waratah.

There are no games next weekend but Newcastle's open representative side will compete for the NSW title at Maitland.

Round 6 results:

University of Newcastle beat Souths 49-39. Q1: University led 13-7; Q2: University led 20-18; Q3: University led 35-28.

West Leagues Balance defeated Junction Stella 50-41. Q1: West led 16-8; Q2: West led 33-18; Q3: West led 43-27.

BNC Whanau beat Waratah Cats 45-28. Q1: BNC led 12-6; Q2: BNC led 24-14; Q3: BNC led 32-23.

Nova Thunder defeated Kotara South 62-34. Q1: Nova led 15-10; Q2: Nova led 30-19; Q3: Nova led 47-23.

Points: University 17, Souths 17, Nova 15, West 15, Junction 11, BNC 11, Kotara South 11, Waratah 7.

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