Robinhood Stars see off Steel to remain unbeaten

The Robinhood Stars have produced a strong showing at home to topple the Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel 59-45 in their ANZ Premiership round four match in Auckland.

The Stars made a slow start to the match, as the Steel shot out the gates putting constant pressure on the Stars attack and after some back and forth took advantage late in the period to hold a three goal lead.

The Stars fought back and as passes started to stick, the goals began to flow. Stars defender Anna Harrison and midcourter Lisa Mather tightened their defensive stranglehold and forced some important turnovers, as the Stars held a 16-13 lead after the first quarter.

The Stars continued to find their groove in the second quarter and forced consecutive turnovers which resulted in scoring plays as they started to pull away from the Steel.

The Stars notched up a whopping nine gains between defenders Harrison and Elle Temu and midcourters Lisa Mather and Mila Reuelu-Buchanan and they capitalised, with shooter Jamie Hume nailing some long range shots in her 50th ANZ Premiership appearance, as the Stars suddenly led by as much as 10.

The Steel scored a late goal to finish the half, as the Stars led 32-23 at half-time. 

Stars defender Temu was a force in the Steel shooting circle during the third quarter and helped the Stars increase their lead with four gains which included an acrobatic intercept. 

While the quarter was far from clinical, the Stars maintained an enthusiastic approach on attack and defence and went into the final quarter up 43-31. 

The Stars finished the game strong, as Oceane Maihi added some zip to the defensive end and Amorangi Malesala came on at the shooting end for her second appearance in a Stars dress.

The Stars strung together some nice phases at both ends and eventually came away as 59-45 victors to maintain an unbeaten run.

Feed volume into the shooting circle proved to be a telling statistic once again, as the Stars had 71 feeds result at a shot at goal compared to 48 for the Steel. 

Temu was rewarded for her tenacious effort on defence with player of the match honours, as she finished the game with seven gains and three intercepts.

The win sees the Stars stay unbeaten through the opening four games of the campaign.

The Stars next match is away to the Splice Construction Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic in Tauranga.