The history books will record it as a loss but Southern Steel's seven-goal defeat at the hands of the West Coast Fever might have been one of their best-ever performances.
Faced with a 5000-kilometre trip to Perth, a New Zealand start time of just after midnight and a very good Fever outfit, the Steel were in contention for almost the entire hour yesterday and are probably a little hard done by with the final 67-60 scoreline.
Professional sport is all about winning but this game may have lit a fuse for the Ascot Park Hotel-sponsored team.
Captain Wendy Frew certainly hopes so.
"We certainly gave it a good crack.
"We knew we could come over and compete against them, and we were really confident that if we could put together a good 60 minutes out there, we would win the game," she said.
"We are really disappointed we didn't win it but there were some really good things we'll take out of it.
"Each week we seem to be building and we'll be able to get some good wins on the board, hopefully."
Steel's error rate - they gave up 11 turnovers for the game - was one of the things Frew was proud of.
"That's probably the lowest-ever for Steel and I think that shows we are being safe with the ball and not giving away too many soft turnovers.
"I guess we just need to make sure we capitalise on the turnovers we are getting."
The Fever won all four quarters but midway through the final period the Steel had cut their lead to a solitary goal and were pushing hard for a go-ahead break in possession.
Ultimately, an outstanding combined shooting performance from Caitlin Bassett (50 from 57, 87 per cent) and Natalie Medhurst (17/18, 94 per cent) saw the Fever continue their unbeaten season and complete a second successful defence of the Challenge Trophy.
While Jhaniele Fowler-Reid missed only four of her 51 attempts, Te Paea Selby-Rickit was troubled by a back injury following a sharp elbow and hit 11 from 17.
She was briefly replaced by Sophia Fenwick who shot two from two before Selby-Rickit returned.
The Steel worked hard before the game on finding ways to counteract the effects of the long travel and the late game start, and were determined not to use either as an excuse.
It certainly looked as though they had done that well as they showed intensity and desperation in the back end of the final quarter as they chased an unlikely win.
Now the Steel have a bye week to rest and reflect on a three-game start in which a scratchy win over the Tactix was bookended by losses to the Swifts and Fever.
"We are only three games into it and I'd like to keep charging," Frew said.
"I guess if you are going to have a bye, it's a good time to have it after Perth but it certainly would have been nice to go home with a W on the board."
Their next game is against the Mystics in Auckland on March 29.
Source: - The Southland Times
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