The Steel followed a straightforward 72-34 win against Otago's Lois Muir Challenge team in the morning with a 53-42 loss to the tough Canterbury men's team in the afternoon.
Both results were relatively predictable.
The Otago team was full of development players and most top men's teams are able to beat the top domestic women's teams.
Significantly for the Steel, it got a chance to see how its squad coped in the absence of star names Donna Wilkins and Adine Wilson.
Wilkins is still working her way back to fitness after breaking a bone in her wrist at a pre-season tournament in Queenstown last month, while Wilson was unavailable because she was in Auckland at a family function.
That meant there was extra pressure on the likes of wing-attack Wendy Telfer and goal-shoot Daneka Wipiiti to shoulder the burden.
Wipiiti had a particularly good game against Otago, landing 45 of her 55 attempts at goal, while Telfer provided the sort of direction in midcourt that elevated her to the national squad last year.
"Everybody got a run and it was a really good run-out," Steel manager Gail McLauchlan said of the weekend.
"The Canterbury men are really strong and gave us a good physical test. It was a really good game."
McLauchlan said there were no injuries to report from the weekend.
The Steel hopes to play the Canterbury Tactix in one final pre-season game this Sunday but, if that can not be arranged, it will organise a run against a combined Otago team.
