The Southern Steel have snapped their losing streak, beating the Northern Stars 63-61 in an extra-time thriller in Invercargill this afternoon.
It broke the long drought of 21 games without a win – 713 days to be exact – and is their first victory since May 22, 2022, when they beat the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic.
Captain Kate Heffernan naturally was thrilled to get their first victory in nearly two years.
"We’ve been working so hard, so I think it’s so cool to actually be able to get the reward and in front of this crowd, and in front of these fans," Heffernan said.
''They’re just the absolute best and we’re so grateful that they keep turning up and it’s so cool to be able to give them a win."
The Stars were dominant in the third quarter and went into the final quarter of regular time leading 50-42.
But the Steel, even without Shannon Saunders on the court, were determined to fight back and levelled the game 58-58 at the end of the fourth quarter.
Young Ivari Christie showed a wealth of courage to come on and remain steady in the Steel’s attack end.
The Steel had the better of the first part of extra time and went up 62-59.
The Stars fought back to trail by just one with 1min 30sec left on the clock and things started to get messy with both teams desperate.
But the Steel held their cool, played that ball around and found Namana under the post to win 63-61.
In the end the Steel just wanted it more.
