Well, Steel fans waited, more than six seasons and 16 games worth, but finally the Southern Steel has recorded a win in Australia.
Steel coach Janine Southby used some straight talking to help get the Southern Steel to a history-making 61-59 victory over the Adelaide Thunderbirds in South Australia yesterday.
The Steel led for virtually the whole game - it was tied up in the opening minute of the final quarter - but some calmness under pressure and tight defending got the side home for its second win of the season, after starting with three losses in a row.
Southby used some down-to-earth bluntness to get her side over the mental hurdle of never having notched a win across the ditch.
''To be honest, we have just not been good enough before ... I just told the girls to get over it. It is the same court, the same lines you play on,'' she said.
''You are going to get those times when the calls do not go your way. But you have just got to get over that and get on with it. We just had to toughen up.''
Southby praised the efforts of her young defenders - Storm Purvis and Phoenix Karaka - with the two 20-year-olds harassing the Thunderbirds shooters and closing down any room for them to move.
The Steel had to make do without experienced defender Rachel Rasmussen, who injured her ankle at training and did not pass a late fitness test. She is expected to be back next week.
Southby praised the defensive performance right throughout the team.
''It was just a total team effort. We had spoken this week about being mentally strong. About those critical moments if we get a run against us to not let those three goal runs be turned into five goal runs. We had to handle the pressure and not let them get away.''
Karaka had a spell off in the third quarter as she felt the effects of the 33degC temperatures in the non air-conditioned stadium in Adelaide.
Erena Mikaere came on and did well, combining with Purvis to not allow the Thunderbirds attack any room, with ace shooter Carla Borrego out of sorts throughout the match.
The Steel had flown to Auckland on Friday and travelled from there to Adelaide on Saturday which spread the trip over two days rather than one long travelling day.
Southby said that may have had an impact on the performance.
The side was set to celebrate the win last night, along with reserve defender Stacey Peeters' 22nd birthday.
The coach praised the performance of wing attack Shannon Francois and her young defenders.
The match did not start off well for the Steel, with centre Phillipa Finch finding a Thunderbird player in the first pass-off.
But that was not a sign of things to come as the Steel found tall shooter Jhaniele Fowler under the basket and she did the rest.
She actually missed nine shots, which is high for her, but in a lot of those misses she managed to get rebounds. Jodi Brown found the way to chip in with some crucial goals at times.
The Steel was up by five shots for much of the second quarter, and at one stage was ahead by seven shots, but the advantage came back to three at the final break.
But the Steel grabbed some vital turnovers at key times and that was the difference in the match, with the Thunderbirds conceding 26 turnovers.
The win puts the side back in mid-table, though it is still early days in the competition.
The team flies home today to get ready to take on the Mystics in Invercargill next Sunday.
In other games, the Queensland Firebirds beat the Northern Mystics 58-50 in Brisbane and the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic downed the West Coast Fever 65-48 in Tauran.
ANZ Championship
The scores
Steel 61
Jhaniele Fowler 50 from 59, Jodi Brown 11/12
Thunderbirds 59
Carla Borrego 33/39Erin Bell 26/29
Quarter scores: 18-13, 35-30, 48-47
