It was a scrappy, low-scoring opening quarter at USC Arena, with both sides struggling to find early rhythm.
The Sunshine Coast Lightning struck first, with Liz Watson intent on working the ball to the circle edge. However, both shooting ends were shaky early, each missing the opportunity to settle. A deflection from Watson allowed Leesa Mi Mi to capitalise, giving Lightning a brief 3-1 advantage.
That momentum quickly slipped, as the Fever punished errors, including a turnover from a loose feed from Cara Koenen.
The quarter remained tight and low-scoring, with Koenen and Sasha Glasgow unusually quiet.
The visitors held a narrow 7-6 lead heading into the Power Five, while Lightning’s discipline became an issue, racking up 28 penalties compared to Fever’s nine.
The second period began with both sides unchanged, but it didn’t take long for Lightning coach Belinda Reynolds to intervene, calling a tactical timeout and urging her players to apply more pressure and create opportunities.
Fever looked the more composed early, opening up a 22-19 lead midway through the term, driven largely by a dominant Courtney Bruce, who had already notched up six gains and seven deflections.
Koenen, despite appearing increasingly uncomfortable after copping an elbow to the face, combined strongly with Donnell Wallam under the post as Lightning surged late. The hosts carried that momentum into the main break, leading 31-26.
Fever stormed out of the blocks in the third quarter, stringing together consecutive goals to quickly close the gap. Their much-improved centre pass-to-goal conversion was a stark contrast to the first half, prompting a Lightning timeout as the margin shrank to just one goal.
The green wave continued, levelling the scores with three minutes remaining and putting the hosts under significant pressure. The Lightning's season-long inconsistency resurfaced, as they struggled to maintain composure and execution.
A change in the shooting circle saw Gabby Sinclair introduced, but confidence issues were evident. Even so, Lightning stayed within reach thanks to a crucial rebound from none other than Bruce.
Despite that resistance, Fever dominated the quarter, producing a decisive 17-10 turnaround to seize control heading into the final break.
Frequent rotations failed to spark the home side, who called a tactical timeout with just over five minutes remaining as they trailed by two. A costly held ball from the visitors opened the door, and Wallam calmly converted to reduce the margin to one.
Dan Ryan steadied Fever with a crucial timeout in his 100th SSN match. Scores were locked with four minutes to play, and Lightning were given the green light to chase super shots in a bid to stay in finals contention.
However, it was Fever took control in the closing stages, pushing out to a three-goal lead with centre pass advantage and maintaining composure to secure a 58-54 victory.
