The Southern Steel pushed the Northern Mystics all the way but it just was not meant to be.
The Steel lost 65-55 to the Mystics in Auckland on Saturday, a scoreline that blew out to flatter the home side more than it deserved.
The Mystics pulled out all the stops in search of a big win for their leader Sulu Fitzpatrick, playing in her 150th game, in the first half, but they were made to work for every ball by the Steel, who continued to show promise and stayed in the fight.
It was the Steel’s best performance against the top-of-the-table side this year, chipping away at the scoreboard and coming within five goals in the final quarter, making coach Reinga Bloxham proud.
The visitors won the third quarter 18-14 and put the pressure back on the Mystics to keep scoring.
"I thought we had a much better second half," Bloxham said.
"Particularly that third quarter was outstanding. [I] Thought we did our jobs extremely well for most of the time and even the fourth quarter [we] did really well.
"Although we didn’t get a win, we definitely felt that our performance improved as the game went on."
It was a sublime first quarter for the home side and a costly one for the visitors.
The Mystics went up 6-1 early and never relented, piling on the scoreboard pressure to pull away for a 19-9 lead at the first quarter break.
Grace Nweke continued her rampant run, finishing with 53 goals for the Mystics, and the feeders found her easily under the post.
Steel goal keep Kate Burley’s never-say-die attitude went a long way, as she constantly used her footwork to confuse the space around Nweke.
Katie Te Ao was solid in the middle in Tayla Earle’s absence and worked nicely with wing attack Peta Toeava, who was at her very best dishing off no-look passes.
It was a much improved second spell from the Steel, only losing the quarter by two, and showing more patience to find openings in attack.
Ivari Christie was injected at wing attack near the end of the second quarter and brought some speed.
But the Mystics continued about their work to lead 33-21 at halftime.
Traditionally, the Mystics are known for getting big runs on teams but the Steel was able to stem the flow, after an honest conversation at the break, Bloxham said.
Players needed to respond and punish at the post when they got turnover to stop the Mystics from getting on top of them.
"I think when we have real clarity in our game plan, we’re able to execute it a lot better," she said.
"I think the other thing was as we started playing better, we felt that we had trust and confidence in each other, so you could really see that building as the game went on, so that was good to see.
"Particularly in that attack end — they worked really hard for each other.
"They tried to stay connected and sort of just make eye contact so they could see exactly who they wanted to pass the ball to, where they wanted to put it, all that sort of invisible thread stuff."
The Steel trailed 47-39 at three-quarter time and came within five in the final quarter. Sam Winders stole a great intercept at the top of the circle, but the Mystics’ experience told to push out for the win.
The Steel can take heart from only conceding only 25 penalties to the Mystics’ 50 for the game.
Its a tight turnaround for the Steel, coming up against the Magic in Hamilton tonight.
Bloxham said her side needed a much better start, to be in control of its own jobs and take its growing confidence from the past two rounds.
"As much as we want a win, we really have to be able to focus on the process of doing our jobs first and I think if we do that then the outcome will come for us."
ANZ Premiership
The scores
Northern Mystics 65 Grave Nweke 53/58, Filda Vui 12/16
Southern Steel 55 Saviour Tui 41/51, Georgia Heffernan 12/17, Jess Allan 2/3
Quarter scores: 19-9, 33-21, 47-39, 65-55
