Mystics 52
Steel 49
The Northern Mystics have positioned themselves to make to make a late push for a transtasman league playoffs spot after a patchy three-goal win over the Southern Steel in Invercargill last night.
But doubts still linger over whether they are a top-four calibre side on the back of their jittery performance.
The Mystics' inability to build on a healthy seven-goal lead at halftime and their execution under pressure was a concern for captain Temepara George.
"I think we've been improving each week, but I think we let it slip in that third quarter, which we really need to go back and have a look at," she said.
"I think we've got the talent in the team [to make the play-offs] but we haven't yet come out and shown that in our performance."
With both sides eyeing up the position of number two ranked New Zealand side in the ANZ Championship to give themselves a chance of contesting the playoffs, last night's result, and the outcome of their next meeting in round 13, is set to have a strong bearing on the finals picture.
Both sides are now four and four for the season, and neither can really afford to drop another game this season. But it is the Mystics that look to have the easier run home - they still have to play the lowly Pulse and Tactix again, and only have home games left against the Australian sides.
If they are to continue their climb up the ladder, the Auckland side will need to rediscover their defensive spark, which was a stand-out in their narrow loss to the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic last week.
The Mystics struggled to effect any turnover ball from the safe and steady Steel attack, and in the end it was only the Auckland side's superior shooting that got them over the line.
The Steel had 10 more shots at goal than the Mystics, with Cathrine Latu and Maria Tutaia shooting at 92 per cent collectively.
The Mystics made a confident start to the match and looked half a pace quicker than the Steel in the first half, taking a handy 30-23 lead at the long break. But the injection of rookie shooter Julianna Naoupu in the third quarter in place of former Fern Daneka Wipiiti, saw the tide change in favour of the home side.
Naoupu's mobility in the circle confounded import defender Althea Byfield, who had being doing a solid job of cutting the long bomb in to Wipiiti.
Frustrated by their inability to turn over much ball from the patient Steel attack, the Mystics were guilty of over-doing the physicality on some occasions.
The Mystics' escalating penalty count allowed the home side back in to the game, and the Steel enjoyed easy progress up the court with defenders forced out of play.
By the end of the third quarter the Steel had reduced their deficit to just three, to set up a tense final quarter.
