Jhaniele Fowler 59 - Swifts 55.
Southern Steel goal attack Jodi Brown scored the other goal to complete a hard-fought 60-55 win in Invercargill last night.
The victory has catapulted the Steel into fifth place and it is the franchise's first back-to-back win since 2010.
The loss has probably brought a premature end to the Swifts' playoff prospects and they have a Jamaican shooter to blame for it.
What can we say about Fowler we have not already said this year? The 23-year-old goal shoot is a phenomenon who just seems to get better each week. With all that extra training, her athleticism has improved greatly and she is now pulling in passes she missed earlier in the tournament - sometimes with just the tips of her fingers.
It was quite brilliant, really. She is just that much better than her opponents at the moment - a Caribbean version of a young Irene van Dyk.
She is the competition's leading shooter with 309 goals from six games. As good as she is, she owes birthday girl Brown a debt of gratitude. Brown is a pass-first goal attack these days and added another 15 assists to her impressive season tally.
Unselfishly she put up just three attempts in 60 minutes, preferring to pass it to the juggernaut instead. While it is an obvious tactic, that does not make it any easier to combat. Brown's passing has been top-drawer this season and Fowler is an undemanding target at 1.98m.
The Steel started poorly, though. It does not take much to fall behind in netball. A couple of bad passes from Phillipa Finch, some squandered rebound opportunities and suddenly the Steel trailed 8-4.
Midway through the opening stanza the Swifts had put up 11 shots to the Steel's four and just looked more urgent. Rachel Rasmussen really should have nabbed a rebound but she was caught napping.
That play characterised a lacklustre beginning from the home team, but Sulu Tone-Fitzpatrick grabbed a late intercept to spark her team into action. The four-goal buffer was quickly eroded to one by the break but, despite the rally, more desperation was probably the call from Steel coach Janine Southby.
The Steel made good use of Fowler's height advantage by lobbing in passes and drawing a defender out of the circle by effectively playing two wing attacks. Brown may have donned the goal attack bib but she did not spent much time in the circle.
Eventually, that advantage began to tell and the Steel went in front for the first time about 5min before halftime.
The Swifts' defensive trio of Sonia Mkoloma, Mo'onia Gerrard and Ashlee Weir actually did a good job slowing down Fowler's supply of ball.
But the Steel kept the pressure on the Swifts with seven quick goals to open the half and with it the lead jumped out to six goals.
Fowler proved she is human with an uncharacteristic missed shot and had the ball torn from her grasp by Mkoloma at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
That allowed the Swifts to post four unanswered goals and inject even more tension into the match. But the home side responded with seven consecutive goals of its own, to rob the game of the thrilling finish it deserved.
ANZ Championships
The scores
Steel 60
Jhaniele Fowler 59 from 63, Jodi Brown 1/3
Swifts 55
Susan Pratley 33/44, Carla Dziwoki 22/27
Quarter scores: 1st, 14-15; 2nd, 32-30; 3rd, 48-44
