The final score of 63-48 might not indicate it was close for most of the first half in Hamilton last night.
But it was what happened after the break which proved the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic's demise.
The win clinched a playoff spot and pushes the Steel closer to securing second place and a home semifinal.
Neither team could pull away early and the Magic matched the Steel in everything it did.
But eventually the pressure the Steel kept applying won out and the Magic broke.
Mistakes crept into the Magic game and after halftime, those mistakes soon became a surge.
The Steel defence came up with ball with ease and it moved it quickly through the midcourt to its shooters.
Gina Crampton fed well and made a lot of play, while Lenize Potgieter was again exceptional.
She shot 39 from 44 and combined well with Te Paea Selby-Rickit (22/27) in the circle.
The side also took the chance to rest some of its key players with a busy schedule ahead.
Likewise it was able to shift Kate Heffernan to centre for the second half, resting Shannon Saunders, who had a stomach bug in the days before to the game.
It was a performance which pleased Steel coach Reinga Bloxham.
Getting players breaks would be crucial going forward, she said.
She was pleased with the consistency on show, something that had been a key focus for the team.
''I think the thing I was happy with the most was we got a little lead and we kept building on it and we kept growing it,'' she said.
''We really stuck to what we had planned. We made sure we were using our structures and being smart with what we were doing.
''We had talked a little about changing our line-up and beingable to adapt to those changes and I think that's what we did.''
For 12 minutes the teams mirrored each other.
Both were tidy on attack and when one made a mistake, the other would make one before it could capitalise.
It took 11 minutes for a missed shot, although eventually Selby-Rickit capitalised on a Kelsey McPhee miss.
Two minutes later, Abby Erwood got a hand to a feed, which McPhee fumbled over the baseline.
Potgieter quickly made it 15-12, before a long shot from Selby-Rickit made the difference four.
Those were the only two mistakes either team capitalised on, but it was enough to open a 17-13 gap at the first break.
That continued into the second quarter, but eventually the Steel wore the Magic down.
Mistakes crept into the Magic attack late in the quarter and the Steel started turning ball over to extend its lead to 32-25 at halftime.
The Steel continued that dominance in the third quarter, as it began shuffling around its line-up.
It held the Magic to just eight goals and was clinical on attack, growing the lead to 48-33 as it gained complete control.
The Steel held that control through to the end, maintaining the margin and continuing to use its bench.
Goal shoot Jennifer O'Connell had been ruled out with an ankle injury picked up at the captain's run yesterday morning. Bloxham said it was ''not too bad'' and signs were promising she would be available for Sunday.
