In fact, it was a match the Southern Steel should have won.
It led by six with less than 10 minutes to play, shooters George Fisher and Georgia Heffernan both in their groove.
Then it slipped.
The Stars ramped up the defensive pressure and the Steel froze.
It began turning over ball that it had not given away since the early stages of the game, and the visiting side pounced.
Stars goal attack Jamie Hume scored with five seconds remaining to force extra time.
From there the Stars pulled away to a dramatic 62-60 win in Invercargill yesterday.
It secured the final playoff spot for the Stars, ending the Steel’s chances in the process.
"I think there were some moments where we stopped attacking to the circle edge," Steel coach Reinga Bloxham said of the fourth quarter.
"We were almost too safe and careful with the ball, we didn’t let it go.
"When you’re in that position, and there’s lots of pressure on you, sometimes you have to have absolute trust in your structures and what you’re doing and the person that’s receiving the ball.
"There was a couple of held balls towards the end. It sort of just showed we weren’t quite ready to give that ball. I also thought the Stars defence ramped it up and they did put us under a lot of pressure."
Bloxham described the game as an ‘’arm wrestle" and perhaps that was the best way to put it.
The Steel had started poorly, turning over ball and making sloppy mistakes which allowed the Stars to jump out to an 11-6 lead.
It could have easily unravelled at that point.
However, it began to shore up its attack and find its shooters who were excellent in hitting 60 of their 64 shots, one of those misses being a long one as they chased a late two-goal deficit.
Kate Heffernan was influential in the midcourt, using her length to generate turnover at will through the middle two quarters, while Kate Burley was similarly effective in the defensive circle.
Fisher and Georgia Heffernan made effective use of that ball.
A Fisher goal on halftime gave the Steel back a 28-27 lead, which it continued to grow after the break.
It led 50-44 with 10 minutes to play, at which point the Stars defensive duo of Elle Temu and Anna Harrison began exerting themselves and wing attack Gina Crampton took control.
The Steel had seemed to withstand the pressure, clinging to a one-goal lead down the stretch.
However, Saviour Tui could not connect on a late shot, allowing Hume to make it 56-56, sending her former team to extra time.
Both teams took leads during extra time, before a Holly Fowler deflection gave the Stars the final ball it needed to close out the win.
Bloxham felt the Stars’ experience and quality had stood up during the final period.
"You’ve got to look at experience and players that have had that game experience and how they cope under that sort of pressure," she said.
"When you look at the Stars team they’ve got a few Silver Ferns in there. That’s their job, that’s the moments they should be standing up and absolutely shining.
"You see someone like Gina take control of the game and get ball in hand, because she knows exactly what do to with it.
"Our attacking end, we had Shannon [Saunders] and George Fisher, I thought did a great job.
"Sometimes I thought we were patient when we needed to be. But sometimes when that pressure came on, we were almost too patient."
The Steel has two games remaining, facing the Stars on Thursday and Magic on Saturday.
In yesterday’s other game, the Magic scored six consecutive goals to close out a 57-51 extra-time win over the Mainland Tactix.
