Phys Ed A made all the moves in the opening quarter, with goal shoot Gemma Roberts taking a leadership roll in the shooting circle.
Her play has improved greatly over the season and it continued on Saturday, with the Otago Under-19 B player putting in a solid performance and shooting 35 from 45 attempts.
Phys Ed led 10-9 going into the break.
In a busy second quarter, both teams at different stages etched out slight leads.
However, the defensive efforts at each end of the court ensured neither team got more than three goals ahead.
With Southern turning over very little ball, it was often the rebounding efforts of Phys Ed goal keep Jess Moulds that ensured her team remained in contention.
At halftime, Southern had a slender 24-22 lead.
Southern tightened its man-on-man defensive effort in the third quarter.
This type of play can have a high attrition rate, and it was Southern that came out worse for wear, two injuries forcing it to rejig its attacking and defensive lines.
This created an opportunity for Phys Ed to take advantage of the disruption to Southern's rhythm and swing momentum in its favour.
At three-quarter time the scores were tied at 34-34.
After such an exciting match, it was disappointing to see Phys Ed lose its impetus on attack.
It coughed up three held balls through players being unable to find driving team-mates to pass to.
Southern pounced on these errors, quickly advancing the ball down the court and shooting successfully at goal.
It made quick work of extending its lead to eight goals to take the game.
