They lost the game, the Georgina Salter Memorial and the opportunity to snatch pole position in the ANZ Premiership.
The Northern Mystics dominated extra time to snatch a 61-53 win in Invercargill yesterday.
The scores were locked up at 52 apiece at fulltime.
But the visitors finished strongly, winning extra time 9-1.
Ouch.
The loss snapped a six-game winning streak for the Steel (18 points) and means they drop to third in the standings.
The Mystic and Tactix (19 points each) claim the top two spots.
It was the Steel’s second straight week of extra time and this time they emerged empty-handed.
They struggled without their inspirational captain, Kimiora Poi, who was ruled out through injury.
Queenslander Jessie Laga’aia claimed the centre bib in her absence.
The Mystics had a notable change as well. Michaela Sokolich-Beatson shifted from the midcourt to goal defence and caused the Steel some early problems.
The visitors looked more polished early on, although they did bumble several opportunities to convert turnovers.
A rare miss from Steel shooter Aliyah Dunn presented them with another chance and this time they were up to it,
One-woman hype squad Carys Stythe nabbed an intercept for the Steel, but some loose passes at the attack end saw the visitors pull away to a handy 16-9 lead.
Steel shooter Georgia Heffernan hit the rim early in the second quarter and the Mystics stretched their lead to 10 goals.
It was not the time to panic, but the home team needed to show some urgency.
The long-limbed Stythe answered the call. She hauled in another intercept and Serine Daunakamakama flicked a ball back in court that was heading out.
The Steel chipped away at the deficit and the pressure switched to the visitors.
They cracked more than once and their lead evaporated entirely.
The teams went into halftime level on 25 points apiece.
Maia Wilson tossed a brick early in the third period.
That allowed the Steel to seize more of the momentum.
Sokolich-Beatson hobbled off with an injured ankle to double down on the Mystic’s troubles.
Phoenix Karaka made an intercept to spark a revival, and Filda Vui drilled a two-pointer in the final act of the period to give her side a 40-38 lead with 15 minutes to play.
Dunn drilled a two-pointer and back-to-back goals late in regulation time to push the game into extra time.
But the Steel were completely outplayed in the extra three minutes.
•The Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic finally have their first win of the season, beating the Northern Stars 51-50 in Hamilton on Saturday to damage their opponents’ playoff hopes.
For a second week, the Stars had to play without captain Mila Reuelu-Buchanan, as the Silver Fern nursed a knee niggle.
Stars assistant coach Leana de Bruin took the court for the third time this season, the 48-year-old playing a full game.
Well out of finals contention, the Magic — beaten by the Steel in extra time last week — were happy to play a spoiler role.
Defender Oceane Maihi picked up where she left off from round seven with another strong game, and the Magic led 16-10 after the first quarter.
The Stars improved in the second quarter to trail the Magic 29-24 at halftime and grabbed the momentum in the third period, winning it 13-8 to level the scores heading into the final quarter.
Magic midcourter Georgie Edgecombe came up with a clutch intercept with less than two minutes to play and the home side went ahead.
Walmsley then nailed a two-point shot with 10 seconds on the clock to level the scores, which put everyone in the stadium on their feet, but the Magic calmly responded with a direct route to goal, which Saviour Tui converted just before the buzzer.
In the other game, the Central Pulse upset the Tactix 49-45 in Palmerston North.
The Pulse had been on a six-match losing run since their opening-round win, but were determined to get one over the defending champion Tactix, who had just one loss this season before Saturday.
Pulse co-captain Parris Mason had an MVP performance, winning plenty of ball on defence. — additional reporting RNZ
ANZ Premiership
The scores
Northern Mystics 61
Maia Wilson 44 (44/47), Filda Vui, Sophia Lafaiali’i 13 (13/17), 3 (3/5)
Southern Steel 53
Aliyag Dunn 45 (45/47), Georgia Heffernan 7 (7/13)
Quarter scores: 9-16, 25-25, 40-38, 52-52, 61-53
