The Sunshine Coast Lightning have called on their vast experience to overturn a four-goal deficit at three-quarter-time to secure a hard-fought 55-50 win over the NSW Swifts at Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre.
In a fluctuating round 8 Super Netball contest on Sunday, the Swifts produced a 17-7 third quarter to snatch the lead at the final break after trailing 32-26 at halftime.
However, the star-studded Lightning turned the tide with a 16-7 final push to enter the bye week firmly entrenched in the top four.
"Knowing the statistics and what we've done in prep, we knew the Swifts come out really strong in the third quarter. It's something they're synonymous with. We actually were expecting it, to be honest," Lightning coach Noeline Taurua said.
"We made a change defensively, went tight man-on-man, which puts the emphasis back on individual's skill level. I think we were able to get the roll on once again, get momentum and were able to secure the ball."
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Despite a wholehearted effort by Swifts defensive duo Sarah Klau and Maddy Turner, Diamonds star Caitlin Bassett delivered another reliable performance at goal shooter, scoring 38 goals at 93 per cent accuracy and combining well with former Swifts player, Stephanie Wood, at goal attack.
At the other end, Swifts goal shooter Sam Wallace scored 33 goals in a tense clash with England international Geva Mentor.
The Swifts led 16-15 at the end of the first quarter, but the introduction of South Africa international defender Karla Mostert helped the visitors turn the tide to grab a comfortable halftime advantage.
Swifts coach Rob Wright switched up his midcourt for the third period, moving Paige Hadley to centre, taking Maddy Proud off and giving Australian junior representative Claire O'Brien an opportunity to work against Silver Ferns great Laura Langman.
Within 10 minutes the Swifts had mown down the Lightning's advantage and completed perhaps their best quarter of the season.
However, the Lightning remained composed and finished off with a 16-7 final period to ensure the win.
"It's definitely starting to become very frustrating for us, as players," Swifts captain Abbey McCulloch said.
"We know we've got the goods to finish off games, especially when we're four goals up. We know we need to put the games away.
"It's like we get a bit panicked out there, even though we just played the last 45 minutes perfectly. Then all of a sudden we get to the last quarter and things go a bit haywire for us."
Wright said his team left behind what had been working for them.
"You can almost see that we run on top of each other and we get quite long in attack and then our movement stops," he said.
"They're such a good side that they punish you."
