It was beaten 53-52 by the Mainland Tactix at the Edgar Centre, its second loss in as many games.
The game was tight the whole way, but the Tactix finished more strongly after the Steel held a three-goal lead most of the fourth quarter.
Defenders Temalisi Fakahokotau and Jane Watson came up with a crucial turnover each to help put the Tactix back in front.
That gave Ellie Bird the chance to score five goals in a row, taking the Tactix from 50-47 down to a 52-50 lead with under two minutes remaining.It ended up being the key period, although Steel coach Reinga Bloxham said the game came down to more than that.
"I’m disappointed with more than the last 2 minutes," she said.
"I think there’s still times during the game that if we execute a little bit better we wouldn’t put ourselves under that pressure going into the last quarter.
"There’s a lot of things we could do better."
Watson and Fakahokotau brought intensity throughout and made it difficult for the Steel in its shooting circle.
That took the shooting duo of Jennifer O’Connell and Te Paea Selby-Rickit a while to adjust to and they missed six of their first seven shots.
"It was a very rocky start and that’s the pressure Jane and Temalisi had applied at the beginning," Bloxham said.
"That definitely rocked the boat a bit and it took the shooters a while just to regather themselves and get their confidence to find their mojo and put the ball away."
That left the Steel behind 5-2 early, but a tenacious defensive effort limited the damage.
Once the shots began falling the gap closed, but a run late in the quarter helped the Tactix to a 13-9 lead.
The Steel finished well though, getting things back to 13-11 at the first break.That continued into the second quarter, as the Steel got back to a 14-13 lead.
However, the lead changed hands another three times during the quarter and the Tactix went to halftime ahead 27-26.
That closeness did not change in the third quarter.
The Tactix opened up a 38-34 lead midway through, but the Steel defence came up with two big turnovers to stem the flow.
That left things even again at the final break, the score tied at 40-40.The Steel started the fourth quarter more strongly and jumped out to a three-goal lead, but could not stop the late game momentum swing.
Bloxham said it was important the Steel found a way to turn around quickly, having a tough game against the top of the table Central Pulse next week.
"I think a lot of it is some personal errors and things, but as a team we need to collectively be better than what we are.
"There’s plenty of ball out there on defence that we’re not getting and then on attack we can’t put all the pressure on our attackers to score that goal.
"The thing is, I believe we’ve got the potential there. We just haven’t quite been able to execute.
"We have to find that flow and we have to do it really quickly because we’ve got a pretty tough game coming up."
In the curtain-raiser, the South Beko League team was well-beaten 57-32 by the Mainland team.
ANZ Premiership
The scores
Mainland Tactix 53
Ellie Bird 38/43, Kate Beveridge 9/12, Brooke Leaver 6/9.
Southern Steel 52
Jennifer O’Connell 42/52, Te Paea Selby-Rickit 10/16.
Quarter scores: Q1 13-11, Q2 14-15, Q3 13-14, Q4 13-12
