Manchester Thunder and Team Bath both secured productive victories on the road with Loughborough Lightning getting off the mark in Round Two of the Vitality Netball Superleague.
After a record-breaking crowd witnessed a thrilling day of netball at the Season Opener in Birmingham, all 10 franchises returned to their training bases to prepare for their second outings of the new season.
After three Round Two fixtures on Saturday, the final two meetings will take place on Monday evening with Wasps Netball hosting Saracens Mavericks at the Ricoh Arena and Surrey Storm taking on London Pulse in front of the Sky Sports cameras.
Mikki Austin's outfit will face-off against Samantha Bird's side live on Sky Sports Arena and Mix from 6.45pm and the encounter will also be streamed live on our YouTube channel.
Stars shine but just fall to Thunder
After a tough time at the Season Opener and a 70-49 loss to Saracens Mavericks, Melissa Bessell's Severn Stars embraced the challenge of the reigning champions and showed that a week can be a long time in sport.
They thrived on a home court and kept Thunder to just a single-goal advantage after the first 15 minutes at Worcester Arena and a 30-26 deficit at half-time.
The third, so often known as the 'Championship quarter', belonged to the home side. Stars edged it by one [17-16] as Liana Leota thrived playing against her former team their collective confidence grew.
The final quarter saw Karen Greig again turn to her strong bench to change the picture.
The in-form Eleanor Cardwell arrived at GA and new signing Lauren Ngwira stepped it up in defence. Thunder raced out into a 10-goal advantage before Stars came right back at them. They pushed their visitors all the way to a 65-56 final scoreline.
Up Next - Severn Stars now head on the road to face Saracens Mavericks on March 7. Meanwhile Manchester Thunder have the joy of their first home match of the season to look forward to, as they take on Loughborough Lightning at Belle Vue on the same evening.
Lightning gain first win of season
Despite not having the services of their injured captain Natalie Panagarry, Loughborough Lightning gained their first win of the new season with a hard-fought 59-53 result against Strathclyde Sirens at the Sir David Wallace Arena.
They had to do it the hard way too as a slow start saw them go into the first pause 16-7 down.
Sara Bayman's choice words and key substitutions, including handing the WA bib to the player of the match Beth Gabriel, allowed them to deliver a productive 18-9 second quarter.
After being locked at 25-25 at half-time, the third was a game of cat and mouse with Lightning just holding the edge [42-39] with 15 to go.
Lightning never went behind in the final quarter and once again for Sirens their tally of missed shots disrupted their work, 12 went array in contrast to just five of home side's attempts.
Up Next - The Emirates Arena will be opening its doors for the first time in Round Three when Strathclyde Sirens host Mikki Austin's Surrey Storm. For Lightning, as just mentioned, it's a meeting with the reigning champions Manchester Thunder.
Team Bath go two-from-two
Team Bath added to their strong performance at the Season Opener by recording their first result on the road, a 71-52 victory over Celtic Dragons at Cardiff Met University.
Anna Stembridge used the encounter to hand a Superleague debut to Khanyisa Chawane at WA whilst Tash Pavelin proved to be potent in defence with eight interceptions during her time on court.
After a 13-13 first quarter, Bath won the final three by seven, one and 11 to secure another comfortable victory and return home to Team Bath Arena with smiles on their faces.
Dragons were only eight goals down going into the final quarter however Latanya Wilson was ordered off the court for over-zealous work following cautions (and two minutes off court already) and that meant that Abby Tyrrell had it all to do.
As you expect, being down to six players was too much for the home side to handle and the scoreline blew out accordingly.
Up Next - Tania Hoffman's Celtic Dragons will now prepare to head to the capital for a meeting London Pulse, in front of the Sky Sports cameras on Monday March 9. Team Bath's encounter with Wasps Netball falls at the other end of Round Three underneath the Friday Night Lights at the Team Bath Arena.
Coverage of the Vitality Netball Superleague season continues on Monday March 2 when Surrey Storm entertain London Pulse, join us on Sky Sports Arena, Mix and YouTube from 7pm.