It does not get any more thrilling than that.
The Southern Steel yesterday pulled off the most unlikely of comebacks to defend its ANZ Premiership title after trailing the whole game .
It trailed by 11 goals at one point and a win looked unlikely heading into the final two minutes.
But the Steel hung tough and a Te Paea Selby-Rickit goal with 25 seconds to play gave it a 54-53 victory.
It had trailed 53-48, but scored the final seven goals in a huge momentum swing to end the game.
Even with a minute and a-half to play it seemed unlikely — the Steel still needing to create two turnovers.
It did just that.
It got back within one before huge defensive pressure forced the Pulse into a held ball call.
From there the side looked after the ball for Jennifer O’Connell to tie the score before Selby-Rickit slotted the winner.
Ameliaranne Ekenasio had a final shot for the Pulse to draw level but it went astray.
It was clear from the outset the game would be more intense than any other game this season.
The pace was higher and the Pulse defended aggressively.
Midcourters Claire Kersten and Karin Burger were prominent in going after intercepts, making life difficult for the Steel.
Passing options became harder to come by and Steel players coughed up turnovers early.
A Kersten intercept gave the Pulse its first break and it quickly jumped out to a 6-4 lead.
That doubled when the Steel turned the ball over from the centre pass and the Pulse scored off its own.
The Steel pulled back to 8-7, but the Pulse again extended its lead to four and late in the quarter made it six to go to the break at 16-10.
That quickly became 21-10 as a miss and further intercept gave the hosts the ball to open an 11-goal gap.
But in typical Steel fashion, the visitors fought back.Its defence stepped up and the attacking players found their composure.
Meanwhile, penalties began hurting the Pulse defence.
Gina Crampton all of a sudden had so much more time, while Selby-Rickit was all class in getting open in the circle.
That created a huge momentum swing and after a Courtney Elliott intercept the side brought things back to 27-23 late in the quarter.
The Pulse weathered the storm, though, and went into halftime ahead 30-24.
The Steel scored off its first centre pass to make the gap five and there was little that separated the teams early in the third quarter.
It took a hustle play from Wendy Frew — which ended in her crashing over the courtside signage — for one side to get a break.
O’Connell capitalised off the play and the Steel brought it back to 34-30, closing the gap to three just seconds later.
However, it was unable to get closer, as the Pulse attack was doing enough to hold off a full comeback.
The 42-38 scoreline heading into the final quarter left the Steel very much in the game, though.
The Pulse got off to the better start in the fourth quarter but the Steel rallied to snatch victory.
ANZ Premiership Final
The scores
Southern Steel 54
Jennifer O’Connell 40/44, Te Paea Selby-Rickit 14/18.
Central Pulse 53
Aliyah Dunn 32/35, Ameliaranne Ekenasio 17/25, Tiana Metuarau 4/4.
Quarter scores: Q1 10-16, Q2 14-14, Q3 14-12, Q4 16-11
