Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic remain winless in the trans-Tasman netball league after going down to the Southern Steel 63-53 in Rotorua.
Steel's Shannon Francois and Magic's Courtney Tairi collide. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The score was locked at 29-all at half-time before the Steel pulled away by seven goals in the third quarter.
The Steel's Jamaican goal shoot Jhaniele Fowler-Reid top scored with 44 goals from 47 attempts.
The Magic coach Julie Fitzgerald denied her team lacked heart after letting the Steel pull away.
"It's certainly not heart, but it certainly is concentration and being able to maintain it, particularly when teams score a couple of goals on us."
Fielding an inexperienced defence to cover for the injured Silver Fern, Leanna de Bruin, Fitzgerald said her young defenders coped well.
"I thought they won enough ball back for us, we managed to get the ball down to our attacking end quite a bit."
"Considering the youth of them I thought the defensive end did pretty well."
The result leaves the Magic at the bottom of the New Zealand conference as the unbeaten Steel hold on to top spot.
Also on Sunday, the Mainland Tactix lost 50-64 to the West Coast Fever in Perth.