Monica Falkner of the Stars and Carys Stythe of the Steel during their ANZ Premiership netball match. Photo: photosport
Southern Steel have inflicted another painful blow on Northern Stars in netball's ANZ Premiership, winning all four quarters to ease to a 62-46 victory in Auckland.
The visitors calmly took command of a clash between the two teams ranked last on the standings, lifting the Steel to a 2-4 win-loss record and still with a slim chance of qualifying for the knockout phase.
With four games remaining, the injury-hit Stars' post-season prospects have all-but disappeared, with a 1-5 record.
The Steel opened up a 15-11 lead after the first quarter, but took full control early in the second, when they went on a nine-goal unanswered run.
That outburst prompted a response from the Stars, who trailed 29-23 at halftime, but the match truly slipped from their grasp late in the third quarter, as the Steel again scored freely to be 12 goals up entering the final stanza.
Among the Steel's best was goal keep Carys Stythe, who disrupted the Stars attacking circle throughout the contest, pulling off five intercepts and six deflections.
At the opposite end, Steel goal shoot Aliyah Dunn landed 46 of 48 shots, linking particularly well with centre Kimiora Poi.
Kate Heffernan continues to log court-time in her injury comeback. Photo: photosport
There was another encouraging outing for Steel co-captain Kate Heffernan, who played 31 minutes, after just 18 minutes of court-time in last week's loss to the Tactix, as she recovers from a knee injury suffered before the season.
"The knee feels great," she said. "It's good to be out there, obviously, and I'm hoping to keep building up the minutes.
"I'm trying to tick all the boxes, but I'm feeling really good. It's so good to have a win.
"We've had a couple of tough games, so to go out and do what we say we want to do with a performance we're proud of is awesome."
Centre Mila Reuelu-Buchanan was the only Stars player on court for 60 minutes and was arguably their best, winning some key turnovers and treasuring possession better than several of her teammates.
Stars goal shoot Charlie Bell landed 31 of 35 shots.
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