Steel makes it 11 wins on end against Stars

Steel goal keep Jane Watson (left) and Stars goal shoot Maia Wilson compete for the rebound...
Steel goal keep Jane Watson (left) and Stars goal shoot Maia Wilson compete for the rebound during their ANZ Premiership match at the ILT Stadium in Invercargill yesterday. Photo: Dianne Manson/Michael Bradley Photography
The Southern Steel entered record territory when it extended its winning streak to 11 yesterday, with an 82-58 victory over the Northern Stars in Invercargill.

That is the longest winning streak in its history, eclipsing the 10 games it won in a row last year.

While this season does not include matches against Australian teams, it has been an impressive run and the Steel remains unbeaten in this year's ANZ Premiership.

The Steel was virtually unstoppable in the first half as it piled on the goals to hold a 48-25 lead at halftime.

Jhaniele Fowler-Reid scored 35 of those, missing just two and getting the rebound to score from both.

She proved too big and strong a target for the Stars to contain.

When they did give her extra attention, Te Paea Selby-Rickit made them pay, shooting a perfect 13 from 13 in the first half.

It was more than just a two-person show, though.

The attack was slick, getting the ball to its shooters with ease, while the defence was energetic and forced the Stars into mistake after mistake.

Even with the lead as big as it was, the Steel never dropped intensity, hustling to successfully save loose balls on several occasions.

It was unable to carry that on through the second half, and lost the third quarter 18-16, but the result was never in doubt.

Coach Reinga Bloxham was happy with the start, but would go back and look at what happened to cause the turnaround.

''[The] first half was what we were aiming to achieve for the whole game.

''But the second half, I'm not sure what happened, but [the Stars] obviously came back at us and won [the third] quarter.

''We seemed to get a lot of ball and we just weren't quite converting anything we got, which is usually a strength of ours.

''So, a little bit disappointing there, but [we were] a little bit better in that last quarter.

''At least, we managed to pull ahead by a bit more, but still not great.''

She was not concerned by the fall-off, but it was important the team maintained its consistency throughout games heading into the end of the season.

The performance itself was of more significance than the record to Bloxham, who had been hoping to build off Wednesday night's 80-44 thrashing of the Central Pulse.

''To be honest, [the record is] probably not something we've even talked about.

''I think a real focus has been making sure we're having consistent performances and we're improving each week.

''We know last week there was a really great feeling among our team about how we played and we just had to replicate that today.

''I think in that third quarter we showed that we weren't quite up to that.''

The start could hardly have been better as the Steel shot out to a 24-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.

It continued that dominance through the second half, before the Stars fought back.

The Steel attack began having to work harder, as the Stars' defence stepped up a level and forced more turnovers.

It made little difference though and the score was 64-43 at the end of the quarter.

The Stars continued that fight back but the Steel was able to regain the upper hand in the final quarter.

It made several changes in the final minutes, which included getting Jennifer O'Connell on the court for her Steel debut.

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