Tactix inflict another heavy defeat on winless Southern Steel with 55-38 victory

At ILT Stadium Southland, Invercargill: Tactix 55 (Aliyah Dunn 39/45, Te Paea Selby-Rickit 15/18, Vika Koloto1/1) beat Southern Steel 38 (Saviour Tui 14/17, Eseta Autagavaia 13/15, Georgia Heffernan 11/16). 1Q: 17-9; HT: 37-18; 3Q: 49-27.

A third heavy metal drubbing for the Southern Steel in as many starts spells for a long ANZ Premiership season ahead, with their fellow mainlanders, the Tactix, the latest team to inflict a one-sided defeat with their 55–38 victory on Monday night.

Playing at home for the first time in 2023 was not enough to galvanise the winless Steal who offered little more than an opposed training run for a slick Tactix side in the opening three quarters.

Such was the Tactix’s dominance, their 37 first-half scores set a new franchise record for goals scored by half-time.

That new mark achieved thanks to a superb 20-9 run in the second quarter as the Tactix got back on track after their last start nine-goal defeat to the Northern Mystics.

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At the other end of the spectrum, the Steal has lost their three games by margins of 26, 20 and 17, but a fourth-quarter fightback – that included a five-goal run and saw them win the final segment 11-6 was the little bit of hope the Steal needed to cling too.

As the Steal offence struggled to get past the dynamic defensive duo of Jane Watson and Karin Burger, who were helped out by the equally effective Greer Sinclair (wing defence) and Laura Malcolm (centre), there were no such problems at the other end of the court.

Malcolm and wing attack Kimiora Poi were able to find their shooters with regular ease in the final game of round three.

Steal coach Reinga Bloxham has plenty of hard work ahead of her but a bright spot was the performance of replacement shooter Eseta Autagavaia, as the minutes of Saviour Tui are managed as she returns from a knee injury.

Autagavaia confidently shot 13-15 against the world-class pairing of Watson and Burger.

Sam Winders leaving the court with an injury in the first half was a blow the Steal couldn’t afford but her return for the second half, at wing defence, brought a collective sigh of relief from the Invercargill crowd.

Best on court

In what was likely the biggest positive for the Tactix coaching group, picking one player out of that starting seven was quite the challenge – you could make an argument for each of them. But we’re not here to sit on the fence so let’s go with English import Malcolm, who had arguably her best game for the red and blacks so far.

The big moment

Not so much a big moment for the match but the Steal going on a five-goal run in the final quarter, when the game was long gone was a show of fight and gave their vocal home crowd something to cheer about.

Match rating: 5/10

That late rally for the Steal in the final quarter was a glimpse of something a little more competitive and watching a polished Tactix shine bright, especially in the first half was good, but overall it’s hard to get excited about such a one-sided contest.

The big picture

With the Tactix, Northern Mystics and Central Pulse all now on two wins, Sunday’s encounter between the Tactix and Pulse at the new MainPower Stadium in Rangiora shapes as a pivotal early season encounter. Meanwhile, the Steel will continue their search for a first victory of the season against the Waikato BOP Magic on Saturday.