Souths coach Tracey van Dal expected to have some "selection headaches" in coming weeks after Lions produced what University of Newcastle mentor Traci Baggs described as a "superior" performance to win by 30 goals at National Park on Saturday.
The top-of-the-table clash in Newcastle championship netball pitted unbeaten leaders Souths up against second-placed University of Newcastle with only two points separating the competition's pace-setters ahead of round nine.
But there was only one side in the match on Saturday and Lions opened up their lead in the race for the minor premiership to four points with a resounding 46-16 victory.
Both sides were missing key players due to a clash with round 10 of NSW Premier League in Sydney.
Souths did not have goal attack Katelyn Stansfield, circle defender Nakita Jackson, midcourters Aneeka Marcozzi, Zoe Peden and Abbey Leyshon, and shooter Millie Tonkin remains out due to commitments with the NSW 17s side.
University were without both of their tall shooters in Sabina Gombosa and goal attack Erin Asquith.
Lions barely missed a beat while their opponents struggled and Souths shot out to a 12-5 lead by quarter-time. Souths extended the lead to 21-7 by the main break then were up 35-14 heading into the final quarter.
"We got off to a great start and we just played really good netball," van Dal said post-match on Saturday.
"Imogen McCulloch, who stepped up from our opens team, played goal shooter for the first three quarters and she was great. It's a learning experience for her and she's just grabbing the opportunity with both hands and is getting stronger each week that she takes the court for us. Danielle Taylor was also great in at goal attack."
The defence end of goal keeper Georgia King, goal defence Tianna Cummings and wing defence Laura Neale were a cohesive unit and turned over a lot of ball for Lions.
"Laura is strong and dynamic and she's great in the air," van Dal said. "Last year was her first year in championship and she's taken her game to the next level this year.
"Lucy Tonkin played out of position all game at wing attack and did remarkably well considering she's not familiar with that position.
"I'm just bursting with pride because they just had to step up with having so many girls absent, and they did. It's just great to see when other girls are given their opportunity on court they're fitting in beautifully and taking it with two hands."
The win elevated Souths to 26 points while University remained on 22.
Baber made no excuses for the performance, saying University were "beaten in every area of the court".
"They were very, very good and we were very, very ordinary," Baber said after the game on Saturday.
"They outplayed us everywhere. They played amazing. They were a very, very well-drilled team and we were very lacking. I think we've been blessed with having that tall at the end of it for the last four or five years and probably didn't adjust well to not having that.
"Souths were superior everywhere. I don't think anyone in my team would've been happy with themselves today. It's a good wake-up call for my team."
Inner Glow produced a strong third quarter to set up an important 55-46 win over Kotara South that has kept them in touch with the top four.
Inner Glow led 12-8 at quarter-time but trailed 21-20 at the main break. They outscored the Tigers by five goals in the third quarter to be ahead 37-33 at the final break.
Coach Dwight Graham described it as an important win which kept Inner Glow in fifth position with 18 points, one point behind West Leagues Balance (19) in fourth, and extended their gap on Kotara South (12) in sixth to six points.
"If we dropped that game it would've been really difficult from hereon in, but I thought we played really well," Graham said.
"I felt confident right through the game. Their tall shooter, though, is such a weapon and if they got into the attacking third they could bomb into her and we did find that hard all day.
"But I thought my goalkeeper [Caitlin Davis] was just outstanding and she did take a bit of ball off their shooter. Considering she was about 10 centimetres shorter, she did a great job. At half-time I changed the whole midcourt and put fresh legs on and I think that made a difference.
"The shooting end was probably the best they've worked together. It was definitely goal attack Brooke O'Kane's best game. She held really strong and she really dominated the goalkeeper."
Nova Thunder improved to 20 points and third position with a 60-42 win over Junction Stella (12).
Thunder led at every break and player-coach Katie Robinson was pleased to see her side maintain their intensity for the duration of the match.
"We've had a good start in some of our games but haven't been able to do that second quarter as well," Robinson said.
"Sometimes we just let the other team back in. But our whole first half was quite helpful for us and it was just nice to see our intensity maintained.
"Emma Wyborn played the whole game at wing attack. She came up from opens and just slotted in perfectly. She was on song and gave some nice feeds into Brooke [Fennings] and Abbie [Gray]."
The match between West Leagues Balance and BNC Whanau (8) was postponed.
Round 9 results:
Souths beat University of Newcastle 46-16. Q1: Souths led 12-5; Q2: Souths led 21-7; Q3: Souths led 35-14.
Nova Thunder beat Junction Stella 60-42. Q1: Nova led 17-8; Q2: Nova led 35-18; Q3: Nova led 47-31.
Inner Glow beat Kotara South 55-46. Q1: Inner Glow led 12-8; Q2: Kotara South led 21-20; Q3: Inner Glow led 37-33.
West Leagues Balance v BNC Whanau was postponed.
Points: Souths 26, University 22, Nova 20, West 19, Inner Glow 18, Kotara South 12, Junction Stella 12, BNC 8.
