The Melbourne Vixens have seized their spot in the ANZ Championship grand final with a hard-fought 52-47 victory over the Queensland Firebirds at Hisense Arena.
For the second time in three years, the Vixens - the minor premiership winners - will host the final.
A stream of squandered opportunities cost the Firebirds, who hadn’t lost a match since Round 7, but couldn’t establish any sort of consistency in the face of a relentless Vixens’ defence. They will now face a buoyant Magic side in Brisbane next week, for a second shot to reach the final.
Opposing captains Bianca Chatfield and Laura Geitz agreed afterwards that the Vixens’ ability to cherish possession was ultimately the difference in the match.
The jitters took hold of both teams at the start of the clash, under massive pressure from highly-tuned defensive efforts.
Firebirds goal keep Geitz did her best to try to smother Vixens shooter Karyn Bailey, while the highly-anticipated battle between Romelda Aiken and Vixens’ Geva Mentor didn’t fail to disappoint.
But it was the Vixens who took the first leap ahead on the scoreboard, as they mined direct routes straight down the middle of the court to Bailey and Tegan Caldwell. By the end of the quarter, the home side was simply dominating play, taking a seven-goal lead, 16-9, to the bench.
A little over-confidence slowed the Vixens’ momentum, while the Firebirds found more freedom to let the ball flow, and bounced back to within five. Geitz forced some crucial turnovers at the back of the court, and the Firebirds’ attack was more comfortable putting the long lobs into Aiken to fuel a Firebirds’ comeback.
But a couple of opportunities to draw even closer just before half time were blown, and with Bailey and Caldwell not afraid to share the shooting duties, the Vixens held the upper hand at halftime, 27-22.
The old spark of the Firebirds looked to have finally ignited at the start of the third quarter, and three consecutive goals closed the gap to two. But some careless passing cost them dearly and with the Vixen’s wing attack Madi Robinson controlling the midcourt, they rattled off five straight goals to extend the difference out to a more comfortable seven.
Trailing 35-41 going into the final phase, the Firebirds came out blazing – and again looked like they were about to steal the momentum with three quick Aiken goals. But again the Vixens’ gritty defence – led by Mentor and Chatfield - rattled the Firebirds into expensive errors and kept them at arm’s length.
With three minutes left on the clock, a sterling Mentor intercept converted by Caldwell (who finished with 26 successful shots) told the story of the match, and sealed the Vixens’ victory.
The Mission Queensland Firebirds will host the Kia Magic on Monday night in the Preliminary Final, further details to be confirmed by the ANZ Championship tomorrow.
Vixens shooting statistics:
Tegan Caldwell 27/36 (75%)
Karyn Bailey 25/29 (86%)
Firebirds shooting statistics:
Romelda Aiken 35/41 (85%)
Amy Wild 12/15 (80%)
