Netball
AAP 7y

Lightning down Vixens, book GF spot

Netball

Sunshine Coach Lightning are through to the Super Netball grand final after they upset minor premiers Melbourne Vixens with a 56-55 win at Margaret Court Arena on Saturday.

The Lightning will have a week off before hosting the decider at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Saturday 17 June.

The Vixens will get another chance next Saturday at Hisense Arena to qualify for the grand final when they host the preliminary final against the winner of tonight's minor semi-final between the Giants and Magpies.

The major semi-final hung in the balance right up until the final minutes.

The Vixens led by two in early in the last quarter but the visiting Lightning finished stronger, thanks to the sharp shooting of Caitlin Bassett who scored 44 goals from 47 attempts in a MVP performance.

The hosts looked to have the game in their grasp midway through the third quarter where they jumped out to a five-goal lead, punctuated by a superb grab from goalkeeper Emily Mannix in front of towering shooter Bassett.

Vixens goal attack Tegan Philip also began to make her mark on the match courtesy of a string of accurate long bombs and drawing penalties from her opponent Karla Mostert.

But the Lightning fought back to overturn their previous result against the Melbourne side, where they suffered an 11-goal defeat.

The Vixens had to work hard for their early goals under intense finals pressure, which saw ferocious defence across the court and space hard to find.

The teams went to the first break at 13-13 and it took until the 25th minute for the Vixens to take the lead in the match, which they held until halftime, 26-25.

A run of four goals to the Vixens mid-way through the third quarter gave them a buffer but the Lightning weren't going to let the game get away, closing back to 42-40 with a quarter to play.

Vixens shooter Mwai Kumwenda finished with 33 goals from 38 attempts and Philip scored 22 goals.

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