Steel edged at death in game that looked theirs

Steel defender Abby Lawson tries to steal the ball from Stars shooter Monica Falkner during their ANZ Premiership clash at the Edgar Centre last night. PHOTO: GREGOR RICHARDSON

Sometimes all it comes down to is one point.

The Southern Steel lost 54-53 in the final seconds against the Northern Stars in Dunedin last night.

It was a gutting end to a game the Steel deserved to win.

But game management late in the game hurt the home side as did the inability to shut down Stars captain Maia Wilson, who finished with 38 goals from 39 attempts.

It was a tight battle the entire game between the two bottom-of-the-table teams, but the Stars won the final quarter 15-12 to seal just their second win.

Steel wing attack Serina Daunakamakama was simply outstanding.

She finished with 35 feeds, opened the space, drew her defender away from the mess and set the screens.

The Stars grabbed an early lead thanks to Wilson’s hold.

But the score soon levelled in what was a very even quarter between the two teams.

The Stars attackers’ first option was to always look long and that opened the space for them.

At the other end, the Steel’s width across court, and depth on the second phase, was superb, as was their placement.

Wing defence Renee Savai’inaea picked the pocket and Namana finished at the other end to trail 15-14 at the break.

They came out firing and forced the Stars into silly errors.

Namana rolled under the post to find better space and her shooter-to-shooter offloads with Georgia Heffernan burned the Stars defenders.

That helped the home side out to a three-goal lead and kept the Stars scoreless for the opening three minutes.

Daunakamakama’s dominance forced the Stars to make a change so Khayne-Lii Munro Nonoa injected at wing defence and Lisa Mather moved to centre.

Former Steel defender Kate Burley was a nuisance at goal keep for the Stars and intercepted the ball to level the scores.

The Stars then went on a mini-run and went up by as much as four in a game of ebbs and flows.

Wilson worked well with new goal attack Amorangi Malesala, who drove the top hard and allowed Wilson to work the base.

When the Steel used the ball to move their defenders, they found the gaps and it opened up their attack.

The Steel worked tirelessly and brought it back level until a late Stars goal gave the visitors a 28-27 lead at halftime.

Fifita came around the body of Wilson and put the feed wayward to start the third.

It started a dogged defensive effort from the Steel, which allowed the home side go up by five.

Abby Lawson worked tirelessly to shut down Malesala, Savai’inaea took a screamer, Kate Heffernan snaffled at the top and Daunakamkama picked another on the transverse line.

It brought to life a loud home crowd when they forced a held ball and the Steel clicked into another gear.

But the Stars kept their composure, slowed the ball down the court and made the most of their chances to close the Steel lead to 41-39 at the break.

That steadfast attitude remained for the Stars in the fourth and Burley picked off two balls to close the score.

Not to be outdone, Savai’inaea came up with the ball at the Stars centre pass, but Holly Fowler snaffled the Steel’s cross-court feed and her team marched on from there.