In front of an emotionally-charged capacity crowd of 5300, the Tactix broke a 17-game losing streak in the ANZ Championship.
The Tactix have not been able to play at home since last month's earthquake and a beaming Bowden told Sky Sport it was an amazing feeling to be back in the winner's circle and to feel normal again.
"We couldn't disappoint this crowd," the classy wing attack said.
"We've been through a lot here in Christchurch and we just wanted to put out a good performance."
"We really need to believe now. This is just the beginning for us and we really want to keep building."
Steel co-captain Liana Leota was rather less animated.
The upset has left the Steel's season teetering on the brink.
One more loss will almost certainly bring an end to its play-off prospects.
"I think we did this to ourselves. Every week we get a great lead and then we just go away from our structure," Leota said.
"We knew there was going to be a lot of emotion. We wanted to take it away by playing our own game. But we didn't let the ball go, we didn't play to our style. That's why we lost."
Well, that and Donna Wilkins.
The former Steel shooter stung her old side with a superb performance.
With the Tactix trailing 26-21 at halftime, Wilkins seized control of the game.
The experienced campaigner used every trick in the book to shake her markers, thread her way around the defence and pop the ball in the hoop.
She landed 10 of 11 attempts in a scoring blitz which helped her side outscore the Steel 17-5 in the crucial third quarter.
Fellow shooter Anna Thompson was the perfect foil.
When she was not turning and shooting, she was drawing the defence to free up space for Wilkins.
The Steel's defensive duo of Leana de Bruin and Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit have been one of the more impressive units in the competition but were unable to put the Tactix shooters under any pressure.
Down the attack end, things began to unravel for the Steel.
Daneka Wipiiti, who can be guilty of fading in and out of games, took a wee nap.
The Silver Ferns back-up shooter put up just one shot in the period.
Paula Griffin, though, had perhaps her best game for the franchise, landing 33 of her 38 attempts.
While the Tactix finished well, it started poorly.
With a wobbly pass here and penalty there, the home side gifted the Steel a useful head start.
The Steel, for its part, was winning the battle in the middle of the court with centre Natasha Chokljat adding some real zing and providing some superb service for her shooters.
The Steel put up 20 shots to the 11 of the Tactix but some accurate goal shooting from Thompson and Wilkins kept their side in the quarter.
Midway through the second period the Steel had stretched the lead to seven goals but the Tactix rallied with five unanswered goals.
It was a sign of things to come.
Kasey Evering and Charlotte Kight, who had quiet opening 15min, forced some crucial turnovers and began to build pressure on the visitors.
Then Wilkins took over.
The crowd swung in behind the Tactix and the Steel's mental toughness was called in to question and found wanting.
The Steel play the Melbourne Vixens in Australia on Sunday and the Tactix host the Adelaide Thunderbirds.
ANZ Championship
The scores:
• Canterbury Tactix 49
Anna Thompson 20 from 22, Donna Wilkins 29/31
• Southern Steel 44
Daneka Wipiiti 11/14, Paula Griffin 33/38Quarter 10-15, halftime 21-26, third quarter 38-31
