It was a gutting end for the Steel — who grabbed a bonus point — in what was a must-win encounter for their playoff hopes.
Down 43-40 heading into the final quarter, the Steel fought back and led by two heading into the final five minutes.
But the hot hand of Mystics goal attack Filda Vui struck twice in the two-point zone to swing the momentum to the home side and secure the victory.
It was a scrappy game from both teams. Their timing was out which made it difficult and often there was one option to the ball.
Both teams were guilty of costly turnovers — the Steel finishing with 25 turnovers to the Mystics’ 23 — and misplaced passes hurt.
Mystics goal keep Catherine Hall, having somewhat of a breakout season, and Aliyah Dunn had a battle under the post.
Dunn stood tall to finish 38 from 38 in the one-point zone, while Hall had 10 deflections.
Earlier, Peta Toeava was given too much room on the feed.
The wing attack hardly landed before she was letting it go into Donnell Wallam.
Kimiora Poi had a good tussle with Michaela Sokolich-Beatson in the midcourt.
The Steel wing attack did a lot of work to get herself prime space on the circle edge and Beatson never gave an inch.
Carys Stythe — playing her 50th game — snapped up a deflection as she has done all season.
Poi’s sister, Ashleigh, made her Steel debut taking over from centurion Kate Heffernan, who is still coming back from injury.
Vui nailed a two-pointer late to lead 16-12 at the break.
The Steel were hungry on defence sitting in a box zone to push the Mystics wide and force the turnovers.
They went on a four goal run and closed the gap to one.
Both teams were guilty of being hesitant with the ball through court and there were countless misplaced passes.
Stythe, who finished with six gain, punched through the top to steal the ball and Dunn finished it off.
The Mystics struggled to do the work off the ball, which forced their attackers to fire in wayward balls off the circle edge.
It helped the Steel level the score — but they too were guilty of easy turnovers.
The Mystics adjusted their timing and found the openings easier to re-gain a four-point lead.
They disrupted through court and used their ball speed to lead 30-24 at halftime.
Wallam made her mark in the third quarter. She became more of a presence in the circle and the Mystics attackers used the depth of the pockets to find her.
The Steel were down 41-34 when Dunn nailed their first two-pointer of the game to scrape back.
The Steel’s through court defence stepped up, forcing a held ball and it swung the momentum.
Grace Namana — who was contracted to the Steel last year and filled in for Summer Temu who was sidelined — came on for Georgia Heffernan late in the third quarter.
The Steel won the quarter 16-13 and trailed 43-40 at the break.
ANZ Premiership
The scores
Northern Mystics 56
Donnell Wallam 45 (45/51) Filda Vui 11 (8/10)
Southern Steel 52
Aliyah Dunn 38 (38/39), Georgia Heffernan 11 (10/13), Grace Namana 3 (3/4)
Quarter scores: Mystics 16-12, 30-24, 43-40.
