West Coast Fever fought to the finish but couldn’t find the answers against the Giants in the final round of the season at Nissan Arena, falling two goals short for a 75-73 defeat.
The result sees Fever finish third on the ladder, meaning they will meet Sunshine Coast Lightning in an elimination final next weekend.
Giants scored the first three goals of the game after capitalising on some early turnovers before Fever settled and drew level. The teams then traded goals before Alice Teague-Neeld stepped up to score three Suncorp Super Shots and put Fever ahead 25-19 at quarter time.
Giants hit back in the second quarter and outscored Fever by seven on the back of three Jo Harten super shots to take a one-goal lead at half time 41-40.
Giants extended their lead to six at the beginning of the third and Fever adjusted their defence with Courtney Bruce moving out to Goal Defence and Olivia Lewis entering the game at Goal Keeper.
Giants continued applying pressure with fast ball movement and intense defence, maintaining their advantage before a late super shot from Sasha Glasgow helped reduce the margin to four at three-quarter time.
Fever restructured again for the final quarter with Bruce heading back to GK, Stacey Francis-Bayman to GD, Jess Anstiss to WD, Verity Charles to Centre and Emma Cosh coming on at Wing Attack.
However, play continued going Giants way and they pushed ahead by six but Fever kept fighting and Cosh and Charles were creative in attack, feeding Jhaniele Fowler who finished the game with 54 goals.
Bruce made a crucial intercept to help Fever get back in the game and draw level heading into the final five minutes.
In a thrilling finish to the contest, Harten, Sophie Dwyer and Teague-Neeld all scored super shots but each time Fever drew level, Giants found a way to score.
Another inspirational intercept by Bruce led to a Fowler goal that finally put Fever in front with less than two minutes left but Giants refused to be outdone, and reclaimed the lead when Dwyer scored a super shot.
With the clock ticking down, a timely deflection from Giants Wing Attack Maddie Hay resulted in a turnover, seeing Giants score again and maintain possession in the dying seconds to win 75-73.
