The New Zealand conference winners the Northern Mystics have been beaten 56-48 by the Melbourne Vixens in their last regular season game in the trans-Tasman netball Championship.
Mystic's Paula Griffin takes a pass during the ANZ Championship. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The result means the Mystics finish the regular season without a win against any Australian side.
The Vixens didn't even make the Australian conference finals.
The Mystics lost their way after a strong first-quarter performance, but still end the round-robins at the top of the New Zealand Conference.
With Cathrine Latu unwell with a throat infection, Paula Griffin stepped up to the starting goal shoot role after a long time warming the Mystics' bench.
While it was the long, sure shots of Maria Tutaia that got the Mystics cracking, Griffin's ability to snaffle rebounds and score without miscue kept the home side's total ticking over.
In her 111th and final match in this competition, the Vixens defender Bianca Chatfield led her side to a meticulous and determined win in Auckland, even though the Vixens' fate in the league had already been decided.
The Mystics, Magic and Steel make the play-offs from the New Zealand Conference and Queensland Firebirds, NSW Swifts and West Coast Fever from the Australian Conference.