Southern Steel eager 'to take someone out'
"First, no one wants to lose to us, and second, we are the ones who could take someone out of the top three. We love that and it’s our challenge to get that points table rocking a bit.”
The Southern Steel’s playoff hopes have long been dashed but with three games to play there’s still an eagerness to play the role of spoiler in the 2023 ANZ Premiership.
The Steel slumped to its 12th straight loss this season when it was beaten 65-55 by the Mystics in Auckland on Saturday night.
The Southerners now have three games to wrap up its challenging season which includes a showdown with the Magic in Hamilton on Monday.
Reinga Bloxham’s team will then finish its campaign with two home games in Invercargill against the Stars and Magic.
While the Steel’s playoff hopes have already been well and truly buried they could play the role of spoilers for other teams.
After Saturday night’s loss to the Mystics Steel captain Te Huinga Selby-Rickit told Sky Sport they felt there was a win in them.
“I think that makes us a very dangerous team because first, no one wants to lose to us, and second, we are the ones who could take someone out of the top three. We love that and it’s our challenge to get that points table rocking a bit.”
The Steel trailed by 12 at halftime against the Mystics but did show plenty in the third quarter to suggest there’s still enough in this team to be a threat.
At one stage the Steel was able to reduce the margin to five but could not finish it off.
Mystics captain Sulu Fitzpatrick told Sky Sport the Steel had improved.
“I think the Steel were awesome tonight. They were strong across the board and they’ve grown since the last time we played them – they’re a different team. It was a good test for us,” she said.
Shooting Stats - Steel:
Saviour Tui 41/51 (80%)
Georgia Heffernan 12/17 (71%)
Jess Allan 2/3 (67%)
Shooting Stats - Mystics:
Grace Nweke 53/58 (91%)
Filda Vui 12/16 (75%)
MVP: Saviour Tui