The Southern Steel certainly were in their extra-time thriller — the first in 2026 — where they beat the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic 56-53 in front of a sold-out Edgar Centre on Saturday.
It was far from the Steel’s best game of the season, but coach Wendy Frew felt being pushed the whole way was crucial as they build towards the ANZ Premiership playoffs.
‘‘I think it’s timely, you know. Six on the trot now,’’ Frew told the Otago Daily Times.
‘‘Putting a performance in like that, we’re a little bit disappointed ... in saying that, we have [the most] respect for the Magic’s game.
‘‘I think when you have those games, you might look at yourself a bit harder and do a bit more work behind closed doors, and make sure your prep’s spot-on.’’
The Steel sit second on the table with six wins and one loss for 18 points, the same record and points as the Mainland Tactix, who hold top spot on goal percentage.
The clash against the Magic was the Steel’s closest game of the season and their first time coughing up a bonus point.
Frew credited the Magic, whose game plan was ‘‘spot on’’ to shut the Steel down, and she felt for the winless North Island side.
‘‘We haven’t been under pressure like that.
‘‘We got beaten in the first game [against the Tactix] heavily.
‘‘For us to come out with the win in overtime, we’ve got to actually be proud of that because there was a lot of pressure out there and a lot of our girls stepped up.
‘‘We know we can perform better.’’
The Magic shut down the Steel’s first-phase options and wrapped up Aliyah Dunn in the circle, making the Steel’s avenue to post tough.
Frew said it was something they needed to look at and there were already plenty of conversations happening courtside after the game about where they could have been better.
Defender Carys Stythe was at her very best yet again with eight deflections and four intercepts.
‘‘She’s just a workhorse down the back. She’s always talking and hustling, so love having her in the back for us,’’ Frew said.
‘‘She’s a real treasure.’’
The Steel sold out the Edgar Centre for the first time in their 18-year history, a feat that brought a smile to Frew’s face.
‘‘I guess we gave them a pretty good performance with that game.
‘‘It’s been a real cool honour to come out here and get a sold-out crowd. It means a lot to the girls.’’
The Steel have a tough road to the playoffs against the Northern Mystics, Northern Stars and Tactix, who are all in the running for the playoffs in the final three round robin games.
They head back to Invercargill, where they host the third-placed Mystics on Sunday.
