Ngāti Raukawa player Te Paea Selby-Rickit helped lead the Southern Steel to victory, defeating Silvermoon Tactix 59-56 at ILT Stadium Southland in Invercargill last night.
The in-form Steels shooter managed to sink 19 out of 23 attempts to be named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the match.
The Southern Steel stayed in true form and remain unbeaten at home after taking down the Tactix in a nail-biting victory.
Captain Wendy Frew says, "It was an intense game. I thought the Tactix played really well and the draw began to play out but I'm happy we've come away with the two points."
Selby-Rickit knew it would be a tough one.
"They always bring it to us, the Tactix, we've had two tough games against them. We knew this one would be harder. But we're working towards a home semi so it put us into a good position."
The crowd exploded with cheers of support as the last minute ticked down, giving their girls the push they needed to get to number two on the ladder and a step closer to the finals series.
The battle of the south saw the southern Steel push right to the end.
Tactix captain Jane Watson says they have a couple of things to work on.
"They really bought it to us. We were in it all the way but we really need to treasure our own ball and especially scoring off our turnover ball."
The game's MVP says she still has improvements to make.
"I wasn't running sharp enough angles on attack. But I'm stoked the players around me stepped up and Jen keeps improving every week and I'm happy we won," says Selby-Rickit.
The Steel will take on the Magic next week in a fight to secure a home semifinal.