One experienced observer said it was ''ghastly''.
However you describe the Steel's effort in the second quarter, it certainly cost the side an opportunity of upsetting the Adelaide Thunderbirds in Dunedin on Saturday.
The visitors won 60-54. But despite the relatively comfortable margin, the game was keenly contested for the majority of the match.
For three of the four quarters, the Steel, in a rebuilding phase after a series of personnel changes in the last two years, looked every bit like a team capable of pushing into the top half of the competition.
The attacking end of Jhaniele Fowler and Brown, coupled with some slick work from the midcourt, saw the home side dominate the opening quarter to lead 15-10 at the break.
The same seven Steel players took to the court for the second period but the results were spectacularly different.
Every time the Steel turned the ball over - and that was often - the Thunderbirds scored. The five-goal deficit was quickly erased with seven unanswered goals.
Coach Janine Southby had an opportunity to make some changes midway through the period but kept the faith in her starting seven.
Goal defence Rachel Rasmussen had a strong game but goal keep Sulu Tone-Fitzpatrick was ineffectual against star Thunderbirds shooter Carla Borrego.
Wing defence Wendy Frew, in her 55th game for the franchise, also struggled to make a positive impact. Both players were eventually replaced.
The Thunderbirds' aggressive full-court defence also made a difference as the visitors underlined their dominance with a second seven-goal run to take a 31-23 lead into halftime. They had won the quarter 21-8.
From the Steel's perspective, it was a horrific reversal of fortunes.
''Before the game, we talked about connections, and we played really well when we connected from goal keep to goal shoot,'' Brown said.
''But in that second quarter, they upped their defensive pressure and that made us lose those connections, and we kind of went into ourselves rather than stick at it together.''
With an ounce more belief, Brown felt the Steel could still have emerged victorious. The home side rallied, winning the third quarter 17-13. The sides traded goals in the final quarter and the Steel closed to within striking distance but could not quite bridge the gap.
''To lose by six when we could have won is really frustrating,'' she said.
But we've been together for one year whereas they have been together for three years, so I think we can take a lot of heart out of the loss because, technically, they probably should have thrashed us.
''One of our big issues which we have to address is that we always have one quarter when something goes wrong.
''That is the pattern that has come through from pre-season and in our two previous games. We need to sort out what is happening when we lose dramatically like that in a quarter.''
Fowler was again excellent, with 41 goals from 45 attempts. In three games for the Steel, she has scored 150 goals. If Fowler continues scoring at the same rate, she will have amassed 650 goals by the end of the regular season.
The attack end is not the problem, though. The Steel is conceding a shade more than 60 goals a game and needs to get that down if it wants to win more games.
But there were signs of resistance. Rasmussen gave a gutsy performance and generated some turn over ball. Phoenix Karaka replaced Tone-Fitzpatrick and made the sort of errors to be expected of a rookie. But she gets an A for athleticism.
Fellow defender Storm Purvis paid the price for a lacklustre performance against the Tactix in round two and remained on the bench. The Steel desperately needs the promising goal keep to recapture the sort of form she was in last season.
ANZ Championship
The scores
Adelaide Thunderbirds 60
Carla Borrego 36 from 42, Erin Bell 24/29
Southern Steel 54
Jhaniele Fowler 41/45, Jodi Brown 13/14
Quarter 10-15, halftime 31-23, third quarter 44-40.
