Queensland Firebirds eased to an 11-point victory over the Adelaide Thunderbirds to keep alive their faint hopes of making the Super Netball finals.
The back-to-back Trans-Tasman champions were never really threatened by their bottom-placed opponents on Saturday night and were good value for their 59-48 victory.
The Firebirds are three points behind the fourth-placed Magpies, who beat the NSW Swifts earlier on Saturday night and have the bottom two sides in the ladder to play in the final two rounds.
Romelda Aiken led the way for their hosts, scoring 39 goals from 47 shots, while Gretel Tippett added 20 from 24, including five crowd-pleasing lay ups.
Substitute goal shooter Karyn Bailey top-scored for Adelaide with 25 goals from 27.
Although the Thunderbirds were competitive in the first term, an eight-goal spree in the second quarter opened up an 11-goal lead for the Firebirds - a buffer that never seemed like being breached.
A crowd of 4900 watched the Firebirds' last home game of the season and the first since former captain Laura Geitz was immortalised with a statue outside the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.
The defeat keeps the Thunderbirds propping up the ladder with a solitary win.
Coming off a disappointing personal display in a loss to the Melbourne Vixens last week, Tippett said encouraging words from her coach were key to the team's and her turnaround.
"Roselee said for us to have fun out there and for me to go for my lay-ups when I could," Tippett said.
"Romelda was brilliant in creating space for me to do that.
"It was a great performance from the girls.
"They've been playing well lately and we knew we had to be on top of our game."
Even though a top-four finish is out of their hands, Tippett said pride in the purple kit would keep them battling until season's end.
"We know it's a slim chance of making (the finals) but we'll keep taking it quarter by quarter and hope we get in," she added.
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