Walking into Stadium Southland there was a palpable excitement brewing among the 4000 fans as the sold-out crowd poured through the doors.
That intensity only lifted when the Southern Steel hit the court and meant business from the opening whistle — beating the Mainland Tactix 60-54 to qualify for their first ANZ Premiership grand final in eight years.
They will meet the Northern Mystics in the final on Saturday.
Head coach Wendy Frew is no stranger to the Steel’s ‘‘eighth player’’ — having captained the franchise to back-to-back titles in 2017-18 — but even she recognised the energy of their crowd, who were on their feet for the final few minutes.
‘‘I reckon it’s the best crowd I’ve ever — even as a player — I’ve been in front of,’’ a beaming Frew said after the game.
‘‘They were outstanding. They brought the energy.’’
Frew was thrilled to be heading to the final, which had been their goal at the start of the season.
‘‘Tonight was do or die and we talked about that and I thought the girls really played their hearts out.
‘‘That’s what I asked, coming off the court after 60 minutes with no regrets and I think we’ve done that.
‘‘Extremely proud to be leading these girls.’’
The Steel were outstanding against the Tactix, ending the defending champions’ hunt for consecutive titles.
Defender Carys Stythe finished with 12 gains, five intercepts and seven deflections and Aliyah Dunn shot 33 from 34.
Stythe hauled in her first deflection to start the game.
Gina Crampton used all her experience to settle the Tactix attackers, waiting until the final second to switch up their timing.
Stythe and Khanye-Lii’ Munro-Nonoa sat back on Charlie Bell, shutting down the Australian shooters’ dominance.
Georgia Heffernan nailed a two-pointer to give the Steel a 17-11 at the break.
Heffernan flicked a Tactix ball back to Poi and the Steel went on a three-goal run to start the quarter.
And they did not stop there. The Steel put the foot down, punishing the Tactix for every ball and worked tirelessly together as a unit.
Poi came flying through the top of the circle, flicking the Tactix feed away as the Steel extended to a 10-point lead.
Stythe stole yet another ball forcing the Tactix to call a time-out to rectify the 12-point deficit.
Ash Barnett moved to goal defence, and Laura Balmer back to goal keep, and Taiana Day was injected at wing attack.
They pulled it back in the latter part of the quarter, but the Steel led 32-24 at halftime.
The Tactix came out much better in the third quarter and got within five-points.
Stythe and Munro-Nonoa’s reach over Amorangi Malesala’s shot bothered the Tactix goal attack, opting to reset outside.
Holly Mather punched through the middle and while the Steel’s defensive pressure mounted, the Tactix were patient.
Once the Steel settled, they were smart in their options and pushed back to a eight-point lead.
Munro-Nonoa held Stythe up on her lean over Malesala’s wayward two-point attempt, getting a mighty cheer from the crowd.
Poi — in undoubtedly her best game for the Steel — picked up another of Stythe’s tips and Munro-Nonoa slid along the floor to collect another ball as players put their body on the line.
Malesala and Hannah Glen scored several two-pointers to close the gap, but the damage was already done.
ANZ Premiership
The scores
Southern Steel 60
Aliyah Dunn 37 (37/38), Georgia Heffernan 23 (22/24)
Mainland Tactix 54
Charlie Bell 32 (32/33), Amorangi Malesala 17 (15/24), Hannah Glen 5 (4/6)
Quarter scores: Steel 17-11, 32-24, 48-40.
