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Collingwood have finally got some joy from their time in Sydney, snapping a two-match Super Netball losing run with a 67-51 victory over local rival Melbourne Vixens. The Magpies, who were playing a third straight game at Sydney's Ken Rosewall Arena because of the pandemic situation in Melbourne, overcame a sluggish start in the Victorian derby on Saturday. The game was part of a double-header at the venue after the earlier Giants-Lightning clash. Vixens, who were striving for just their second win of the season, were 11-5 up but successive super shots to Collingwood goal attack Gabrielle Sinclair helped the Magpies fight back to 15-15 at quarter-time. Collingwood never subsequently trailed and a 6-3 run in their favour gave them a 31-25 advantage at halftime. Vixens got it back to four, but six unanswered points gave Collingwood a handy buffer of ten early in the third quarter's Power 5 period. A couple of successful super shots cut the gap to six, but Collingwood scored six of the last seven points to take an imposing 50-39 advantage into the final quarter. Vixens scored the first three points of the final quarter, but couldn't reduce the deficit below eight and the final margin represented their heaviest defeat of the campaign. For Collingwood, shooter Shimona Nelson bagged 55 points from 63 attempts, Geva Mentor and Jodi-Ann Ward each pulled off three intercepts and Sinclair had 25 goal assists. Mwai Kumwenda shot 28 from 32 for Vixens. Vixens suffered a blow before the game when it was announced their Diamonds' defender Emily Mannix had withdrawn after repeating soreness in her right hand after a training session earlier on Saturday. Mannix missed the past two games with a fractured knuckle.
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