Chloe Langley topped the scoring for the Bendigo Strikers 23-and-unders against North East Blaze on Wednesday night. Picture by Darren Howe

COSTLY lapses and turnovers again hurt the Bendigo Strikers in their Victorian Netball League 23-and-under loss against the North East Blaze on Wednesday night.

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Despite a promising start to the clash against the undefeated Blaze, the Strikers fell to their fourth consecutive defeat with a 68-43 loss.

The bulk of the damage was done in the second half, when the Blaze piled on 39 goals to the Strikers' 20 to round out a convincing win.

The Strikers had earlier trailed by seven goals at quarter time, despite being on level terms at 7-7 midway through the term, and by one less at half time.

Strikers coach Jayden Cowling said his young side's inability to make their most of their early chances had hurt their prospects long-term.

"It was a pretty good start - we got six or seven turnovers, but just didn't score off them," he said.

"Had we scored, we could have been staring at a pretty handy lead at quarter time, but instead we were playing catch-up.

"We fade out oat times and you can't afford to do that against quality opposition.

Wing defence Mackenzie O'Dwyer continued her excellent build up to next month's 17-and-under national championships by being the Strikers' standout performer, earning the praise of her coach.

"She applied a lot of our early pressure, allowing our back defenders to turn over the ball," he said.

"She was outstanding and is playing some really great netball.

"Both her and (state 19-and-under representative) Harriet Gall are stepping up. They've really cemented themselves in the starting seven despite being among the youngest in the group. It's really exciting.

Chloe Langley made the most of her opportunities to figure prominently at goal shooter and goal attack, topping the Strikers' scoring with 19 goals at 82.61 per cent accuracy.

Cowling said the lure of a first win in the VNL would motivate his players at training and in the lead-up to next Wednesday night's clash against the Peninsula waves.

The Waves dropped to 0-4 after a 56-49 loss to Melbourne University Lightning and sit one spot above the Strikers on the ladder on percentage.

The Blaze head the ladder outright at 4-0.

Hawks and Melbourne University Lightning, who drew their season opener, are the only other undefeated teams on 3-0-1.