Stacey Peeters is still ''pumped'' about the Steel's thrilling one-goal win against the Pulse in Dunedin at the weekend.
The 23-year-old midcourter was not needed on the court, but that did not mean she sat on the bench the entire game.
''Oh my gosh, it was an absolute ripper,'' Peeters said.
''I have never been so tense on a sideline before in my life. In the last two minutes, I was up out of my seat yelling.''
The win boosted the Steel into second place in the New Zealand conference standings with four matches remaining, and put the southern franchise in control of its own destiny.
Peeters, in her third season with the team, has played in four of the Steel's nine games this season, including the entire second half against the Melbourne Vixens a fortnight ago.
While she has earned just 10 ANZ Championship caps in almost three seasons, time is on Peeters' side.
''I know my time will come,'' she said.
''I'm not fazed about it at all. I'm still learning and I would rather know that the seven out on the court are the best seven in order to win.
''I know I'm not getting much game time at the moment, but I can still see the progress I'm making off the court. So that's a real positive for me.''
Steel captain Wendy Frew and the talented Shannon Francois are ahead of Peeters in the pecking order in her preferred positions - wing defence and centre.
However, there is more competition for court time this year than the previous two years, Peeters said.
''It's healthy for the team as a whole knowing that each week the starting seven can change.
''In previous years, you work really hard but, at the end of the day, you kind of knew who was going to start week in and week out.
''This year it's really up in the air, and I think our work ethic has changed dramatically this year.''
The Steel's starting seven is sure to change against the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic in Hamilton on Sunday night, as promising defender Storm Purvis is ruled out for at least two weeks with an ankle injury.
Former Mainland Tactix defender Jane Watson will most probably slot in alongside Phoenix Karaka at the back.
Peeters trained with the Steel in Invercargill yesterday, and the team will again train in Dunedin tomorrow, before leaving for Hamilton on Friday.
The former St Peter's College head girl, who is now an assistant co-ordinator at the Otago Academy of Sport, knows the team has its work cut out with three of its final four games on the road.
After visiting the Magic, the Steel plays the Pulse in Palmerston North, the Northern Mystics in Invercargill and the Queensland Firebirds in Brisbane.
''We always take it one game at a time, and that's the best way to do it,'' Peeters said.
''We don't have an easy ride. Each game is so hard, and now Storm [Purvis] is out, which is so gutting.
''We're lucky Jane [Watson] slots right in, and she's just as strong as Storm. And if we keep going through our processes like we have been during the year, we will get better and make the top three.''
The Steel is tied with the Magic on seven competition points but is ahead on goal percentage.
