Southern Steel 38
Melbourne Vixens 56
A disappointing season came to an equally disappointing end for the Southern Steel tonight, going down 56-38 against the Melbourne Vixens in the southern franchise's final match of the ANZ Championship season at the Southland Velodrome in Invercargill.
The Steel simply couldn't come back from a horror first quarter, which left them trailing 17-6, but the Vixens were slick. Quick on attack, relentless on defence, they put the Steel under massive pressure and the home side succumbed.
The Steel took more than four minutes to score their first goal and more than 20 minutes to reach double figures, with the Vixens defensive trio of Bianca Chatfield, Julie Corletto and English international Geva Mentor forcing plenty of turnover ball and their shooters Karyn Howarth and Tegan Caldwell converting it.
By the second quarter, the Steel looked much more settled. Te Paea Selby-Rickit entered the match at goal shoot, with Jodi Brown moving to wing attack to replace Shannon Francois, and almost immediately the Steel lifted with Selby-Rickit's height and circle movement making huge improvements to the Steel's attacking flow and Brown's feeds into the circle working nicely.