West Coast Fever’s season came to an end in the Preliminary Final against Giants, who showed great composure to control the contest before a late Fever comeback cut the final margin to three, Giants winning 64-61.
Fever were chasing the Giants from the outset and trailed at every break, only finding themselves within striking distance after Alice Teague-Neeld and Jhaniele Fowler scored five Suncorp Super-Shots between them in the dying minutes of the game.
Both sides showed some early nerves but Giants settled first to score the opening three goals before Fever hit back and took a one goal lead mid-way through the quarter.
Giants then went on a three-goal run to recapture the lead, with Jo Harten and Sophie Dwyer both scoring super shots before Fowler responded with a long range shot of her own, seeing Fever trail 13-16 at quarter time.
Giants came out firing in the second quarter to push ahead by nine, with Fever struggling to gather momentum and find a clear avenue to goal.
Coach Stacey Marinkovich brought Sasha Glasgow into the game at Goal Attack and Emma Cosh into Wing Attack to change the dynamic of the game but the Giants maintained their composure to control the quarter and go into half time leading 35-27.
Giants continued to control the tempo in the third quarter, accumulating time in possession and maintaining pressure on Fever to force them into turnovers, building a 13-goal lead heading into the final five minutes of the term.
Fever continued to fight and a pair of super shots by Teague-Neeld helped to reduce the margin to 10 at three-quarter time, Giants leading 51-41.
A three-goal run by Fever to start the fourth quarter saw the margin reduced to seven but the Giants weathered the storm and responded, pushing their lead back out to 10 goals.
Another three Teague-Neeld super shots brought Fever back to within six points in the final five minutes, sparking the team to a late comeback.
When Fowler followed up with another two super shots, the Giants lead had suddenly been cut to two with just 20 seconds left on the clock and the excitement lifted to another level.
Showing the same composure that saw them control the majority of the contest, Giants were able to move the ball carefully into attack and Sophie Dwyer sealed the 64-61 win just before the final siren.
Speaking after the game, Marinkovich paid tribute to her team and congratulated Giants on the win.
"Full credit to Giants they had an incredible game and their consistency out on court was phenomenal and they deserve that opportunity to play in the Grand Final against Swifts," she said.
"It's hard because I see the girls and how much effort they put in, week in, week out. We were in a predicament this season and we took that on and I'm so proud of what they did. They fought back as hard as they could and I'm just so grateful for the club, for everything that they've given me, for the opportunity to be in this position. It's hard, it's been part of my life for a long time."
