The Tall Ferns playmaker saved her best game of the tournament for the final, guiding her side to a 71-66 win at the Edgar Centre on Saturday.
Her speed and ability to control the play proved to be decisive weapons.
She was all over the court, popping up whenever she was needed to cut to the basket or drill a mid-range jumper.
Otago had no answer to her game and, with Harbour dominating the exchanges on the inside through Jodi Cameron and Karlene Kingi, it was not long before the visitors had opened up what proved to be an insurmountable buffer.
Cameron, who retired after the game, scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds, and Kingi used her height and bulk to score 15 points, most coming from inside the key.
We allowed them to score too much inside," Otago coach Brent Matehaere said.
"And we did not do a good enough job of containing Noni [Wharemate]."
Otago reached the final with a convincing 68-52 win against the New Zealand Force Academy in the morning but appeared to lack zip in the opening stages of the final.
The passes were not going to hand, the shots certainly were not dropping and Otago's play lacked intensity.
"I know their hearts were in it," Matehaere said.
"They were working as hard as they possibly could. It may have appeared that they were flat, but they [Harbour] really took it to us and put us under a lot of pressure."
Otago trailed 21-8 at the break but clawed back four points by halftime.
In the all-important third quarter, Harbour dominated and extended the lead to 15 points.
Otago fought its way back with a 10-point run and closed to within four points with 3min left.
But outside shooter Renee Johnson missed two crucial three-point attempts in the dying moments and the game was lost.
Otago's Patrice McKenzie had a wonderful tournament but struggled to impose herself on the final.
She fouled out early in the fourth quarter, having scored just six points.
That forced American-born forward Casey Lockwood, who carried a knee injury into the tournament, to play more minutes that she would have expected.
She was hobbling but played on courageously, scoring 15 points.
Suzie Bates kept trying and also scored 15 points, and Samara Gallaher and Johnson scored 12 apiece.
Following a strong tournament, Gallaher has been invited to trial for the Tall Ferns.
The trial camp is being held in Dunedin.
It got under way yesterday and will conclude on Wednesday.
McKenzie, Bates and Lockwood are the other Otago players who will press for a spots in the New Zealand side to tour Japan.
Women's basketball
The final
Harbour 71
Noni Wharemate 26, Karlene Kingi 15
Otago 66
Casey Lockwood 15, Suzie Bates 15
Quarter 21-8, halftime 26-27, third quarter 54-39.
