Kia Magic overpowered by well-performed Steel
Kia Magic were stopped in their tracks 62-57 by a rampant Southern Steel as they slumped to a second successive loss in Invercargill on Monday.
In their lucky magenta playing strip, Steel scored their first win at the new ILT Stadium after rebounding with a storming second half.
Magic got away to a perfect start, stretching out to a 10-goal lead through the second quarter but could not contain a purposeful effort from the home team after the halfway mark.
With their tails up after a strong second quarter surge, Steel went up another level, the Magic again struggling on attack as they failed to maintain their earlier consistency and intensity.
With the mounting pressure came the errors and once on the back foot, Magic were left in chase mode, the angst only growing as Steel’s confidence continued to soar. Magic’s dynamic defensive duo of Casey Kopua and Leana de Bruin did a good job to win ball against towering Steel shooter Jhaniele Fowler-Reid but it was often not capitalised on at the other end.
In the only change from recent weeks, Bessie Manu got the start over Jamie-Lee Price at wing defence for Magic while Storm Purvis (goalkeeper) and Phoenix Karaka (goal defence) got the nod as the Steel’s starting defenders.
After last week’s disappointing loss to the Pulse, Magic’s intent was obvious from the outset. Playing with intensity and accuracy, the visitors showed plenty of flow and movement on attack while shooters Jo Harten and Ellen Halpenny found good space and timing under the hoop.
At the other end, strong defence made sure the ball flow to Steel shooting machine Fowler-Reid was disrupted. The smothering defensive efforts helped Magic pocket crucial turnover ball with de Bruin doing a sterling job in keeping Fowler-Reid quiet.
There was no easy path to goal for the home team as Magic skipped away to a 17-11 lead at the first break.
Magic continued on their merry way on the resumption, pulling out to a 10-goal lead as they challenged and disrupted Steel’s attacking momentum.
The visitors’ dominance quickly evaporated on the back of a mid-quarter surge from the Steel. With crafty captain Jodi Brown becoming more involved, Steel found their rhythm on attack while at the other end, Purvis, in particular, pulled off some great defensive turnovers.
Shannon Francois took control of the Steel attack line as more ball found its way into Fowler-Reid’s capable hands, the home team growing in confidence as they pegged Magic’s lead at the main break back to 31-28.
Francois and Purvis continued to shine as they hustled Magic into error during a pulsating and tense third quarter. Picking off more turnover ball, the Steel snatched the lead for the first time early in the stanza.
The intensity lifted another notch as the lead changed hands several times, Magic regaining the impetus on the back of a four-goal streak but great feeding from the Steel attackers gave Brown and Fowler-Reid the opportunity to fire the home team into a 45-43 lead at the last break.
Magic had their chances but were shut out in the run home by the accuracy of Steel’s scoring flow.
