A record 3,466 fans turned out to cheer the Fever on at HBF Stadium. Their cheers quickly turned to nerves in one of the fastest, most physical clashes of the season so far.
Trailing by two goals with less than four minutes remaining, Lightning coach Noeline Taurua made a host of changes with Madeline McAuliffe coming on at centre, Laura Scherian moving from centre to wing attack and Erena Mikaere brought in at wing defence.
With one minute on the clock, the Fever led by just one goal and managed to ice the game despite furious Lightning defensive pressure.
Jhanielle Fowler was huge in the clash, scoring 50 tough goals – often wearing two defenders and copping plenty of knocks. Her frontcourt partner Nat Medhurst was Nissan MVP with 26 assists and nine goals of her own.
It was a hot start from the Lightning, with Steph Wood nailing two daggers before a shocking Fever turnover gifted Caitlin Bassett an easy basket to give the visitors a 3-0 lead.
In contrast, the Fever went on to surrender the ball for a footwork call and an incorrect centre pass which allowed the Lightning to move out to an 8-4 lead.
The Lightning was playing with patience with ball in hand and intensity at the defensive end, frustrating the Fever and pushing out to a six-goal advantage. The Fever needed a spark and found it in wing defender Jess Anstiss who surged up court to get the Fever rolling, but it was the visitors who claimed the bonus point and an 18-14 lead at quarter time.
The last time these two teams met, Lightning captain Geva Mentor restricted Fowler to 39 goals – her lowest tally of the season so far.
That trend continued, with Fowler’s shooting clip dropping to almost 80 per cent with the star shooting under enormous defensive pressure. While her offensive presence was below par, Fowler plucked a Karla Pretorius pass out of the air – a turnover that sparked a massive Fever run and cut the margin back to just one goal.
The officials needed to step in as the physicality ramped up and four players hit the deck in quick succession in off-the-ball incidents which saw West Coast’s Ingrid Colyer benched as a precaution for an ankle complaint.
The Fever comeback meant they won the bonus point for the quarter, but the Lightning still held a 32-30 advantage heading into the halftime break.
It was a huge start to the third quarter from the home side, surging out on a 9-5 run to take the lead for the first time in the match.
Verity Charles and Medhurst combined for 33 assists as the Fever won the quarter and led the Lightning 47-45 heading into the final 15 minutes of the match.
Just 90 seconds into the final quarter, though, the scores were locked up again to set up a grandstand finish.
A Scherian intercept set up a two-goal lead for the Lightning, but the Fever quickly struck as every pass, every possession was hotly contested.
Q1: Fever 14 v Lightning 18
Q2: Fever 16 v Lightning 14
Q3: Fever 17 v Lightning 13
Q4: Fever 12 v Lightning 13
Suncorp Super Netball premiership points
Fever 6
Lightning 2
Fever shooting statistics
Jhaniele Fowler 50/56
Nat Medhurst 9/12
Lightning shooting statistics
Caitlin Bassett 43/47
Steph Wood 15/19
Fever starting seven
GS: Jhaniele Fowler, GA: Nat Medhurst, WA: Ingrid Colyer, C: Verity Charles, WD: Jess Anstiss, GD: Stacey Francis, GK: Courtney Bruce
Lightning starting seven
GS: Caitlin Bassett, GA: Steph Wood, WA: Kelsey Browne, C: Laura Scherian, WD: Jacqueline Russell, GD: Karla Pretorius, GK: Geva Mentor
Nissan MVP: Nat Medhurst
