The Southern Steel have bounced back from their shock opening round loss to remind everyone who the defending champions are after a resounding win over the Tactix in Christchurch last night.
The Steel picked up a 66-46 win in a clinical second outing, giving long-time centre Shannon Saunders a fitting result in her 100th ANZ Premiership game at Horncastle Arena.
It was a stark contrast to their first game of 2019 in which they suffered a shock 66-64 loss to the Northern Stars in Hamilton on Sunday.
The visitors set the tempo in the opening minute of the match with three unanswered goals with accurate shooting and a five-goal streak helping them build a comfortable lead.
While the Tactix showed some grit early on to cut the lead to 16-15 at the end of the first quarter, they couldn't keep up with the stellar shooting of South African Lenize Potgieter who guided the team to a 35-28 halftime lead. Potgieter finished the night shooting 39-of-42.
The lead was extended once again in the third quarter to 52-36 before the Steel sealed things with a convincing final run.
The Steel now head north to face off against the Northern Mystics on Saturday in Auckland while the Tactix have a week to rebound from the loss before they face the Stars next Wednesday.
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