Wendy Frew was ecstatic after her Southern Steel side produced an impressive turnaround to beat the Northern Stars 69-60 in Invercargill on Saturday.
The Steel head coach conceded her team was outplayed and did not reach their potential the week before, when they were well beaten by the Mainland Tactix.
But she could not be prouder of the team effort that led to them reversing their fortunes against one of the competition’s favourites.
‘‘I thought our game plan went really well and we executed it,’’ Frew told the Otago Daily Times.
‘‘Just so proud of the girls. You know, the hard work paid off this week and we get to go again.’’
The Steel’s second quarter, in particular, has been a talking point.
After trailing by four goals at the first break, the Steel went on a four-goal unanswered run to start the second spell and win the quarter 21-7.
‘‘We have targets every quarter we want to hit and everything was in the green, so that was pretty nice.
‘‘I thought our unit [defence] was outstanding. The work out the front that our wing [defences] and centres were doing was just remarkable and it really set us up nicely in that circle.
‘‘On attack, we just looked calm with the ball in hand and we took good options at the right time, fought our way to the circle edge and our shooting was outstanding.’’
Frew praised her defensive unit — led by goal keep Carys Stythe, who had six gains and four intercepts — which kept Silver Ferns and two-point threats Amelia Walmsley and Martina Salmon quiet.
The Steel pulled their own two-point trigger when Georgia Heffernan nailed a buzzer-beater to give her side a 10-point lead at halftime and banked another to finish the game.
‘‘We’ve actually got really good two-point shooters and we probably don’t play the game enough,’’ Frew said.
‘‘But we’ve got targets in our mind and when we’re going to shoot and when we’re not — the girls stuck to that.
‘‘It’s always cool to get a two and it lifts the girls so you’ve got to take those moments.
‘‘We’re a pretty humble team but we’re trying to celebrate the good even more.’’
Much of the praise has gone to Stythe’s and Heffernan’s efforts, and rightly so, but Aliyah Dunn was exceptional. She shot 54 from 56 and was a rock at the back.
‘‘Aliyah was outstanding. She was unstoppable — to hit that many goals in 60 minutes, it just shows you what a target she is,’’ Frew said.
The Stars mounted their comeback and won the third quarter by two, but the Steel held their composure to weather the challenge and
did not let the Aucklanders take the lead after the second quarter.
‘‘They were always going to come back strong and we knew that.
‘‘So kind of losing that third quarter by two was not a threat to me in terms of the team they are.
‘‘I thought every time they pulled it back we managed to get one in the set when it didn’t kind of come into that dangerous zone again.
‘‘They really listened and executed things nicely.’’
The Steel will need that composure as they prepare for a big training week ahead of their clash against the Northern Mystics in Auckland on Sunday.
The Mystics thumped the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic 57-37 on Saturday and sit second on the table.
