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Aaron Gillions/Photosport
Goal shot Maia Wilson put in her usual accurate performance for the Stars with 42 goals from 43 attempts.
At ILT Stadium Southland: Stars 58 (Maia Wilson: 42/43, Amorangi Malesala: 13/20, Jamie Hume: 3/5) Southern Steel 47 (Saviour Tui: 35/41, Georgia Heffernan: 12/16 ). 1Q: 14-11, HT: 29-25, 3Q: 47-35.
Southern Steel are still searching for their first win of the ANZ Premiership season and in losing to the Stars 58–47 in Invercargill on Monday night, have done their Mainland neighbours, the Tactix, no favours.
The ninth win of the season for the Stars, that inflicted a 14th straight loss on the winless Steel, has gone a long way to cementing their spot in the elimination final.
To be any hope of sneaking into that elimination final by leapfrogging the Stars, the Tactix will need to score away wins over the table-topping Pulse (Saturday) and Mystics (Monday) in this weekend’s 12th and final round, plus hope the Stars lose to the Mystics on Sunday.
The Central Pulse has already secured a spot in top three heading into this weekend’s final round and one win for the Mystics – against either the Stars or Tactix – would be more than enough to make the top three, with just who finishes on top, to take the direct route to the grand final, the major talking point of round 12.
The struggling Steal will get one last chance to get a win in the 2023 season when they host the Magic on Sunday.
For the Stars, goal shot Maia Wilson put in another outstanding shooting performance with 42 goals from 43 attempts and at the other end of the court, goal defence Elle Temu made life hard work for the Steel.
Down 12-5 at one stage in the opening quarter, the Steel fought back to trail by just three at the first break and then four at half-time.
But an 18-10 third quarter from the Stars extended the lead to a commanding 47-35 at the final break.
The Steel fought gamely in the final quarter but the result was long over before the final period started.
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