ANZ Premiership: Central Pulse clinch home grand final after defeating Northern Mystics

The Central Pulse have clinched an ANZ Premiership home grand final after beating defending champions, the Northern Mystics 58-40 in Auckland on Friday.

They also sealed their spot as the top seed and claimed the minor premiership after a four-match winning streak.

The minor premiers will host the grand final in Wellington on June 12, while the Northern Stars will host the elimination final against the Mystics after finishing in second place.

The Pulse were without Tayla Earle and Peta Toeava, but were largely untroubled by their opponents, with a third-quarter surge putting the game to bed.

Despite missing star sharpshooter Grace Nweke, the Mystics found success early on in the encounter, with Grace Namana and Ariana Cable-Dixon combining well to build a four-goal lead.

But Aliyah Dunn led the Pulse fight back with four-straight goals to give the visitors a 14-12 lead at the first break.

The teams would go goal-for-goal but the Pulse always looked in control as they pushed their lead to four goals, with the scores 26-22 at the half.

It was all Pulse from there on, as they raced to a 5-1 start in the opening minutes of the third quarter, before finishing with a 43-28 lead at the last turn.

The Mystics did show improvement in the last quarter, but were still outscored 15-12 as the Pulse sealed a comfortable victory.

Pulse 58 (Aliyah Dunn 37/41, Tiana Metuarau 17/21, Amelia Walmsley 3/4, Renee Matoe 1/2 )
Mystics 40 (Grace Namana 32/37, Monica Falkner 5/6, Filda Vui 2/2, Phoenix Karaka 1/3)