Townsville Fire have claimed their third WNBL championship after Suzy Batkovic inspired a 70-57 home win over the Melbourne Boomers on Sunday night.
Batkovic dominated the deciding game of the grand final series with 28 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Fire to their third title in four seasons and their first with coach Claudia Brassard at the helm.
The six-time league MVP Batkovic capped another outstanding season as she won her battle under the basket with Boomers star Liz Cambage, on her way to earning grand final series MVP honours.
The three-time Olympian's big-game experience came to the fore as she piled on 17 points in the first half, including six unanswered to open the second term, and sealed the result with five-straight points to close out the third quarter.
"I'm just so proud of the girls," an emotional Batkovic told Fox Sports after the match.
"I'm so happy that everything we have worked so hard for has paid off and it's pretty amazing."
Import guard Lauren Mincy finished with 11 points and Cayla George chipped in with six points and 13 boards.
The Boomers remained in striking distance despite making just 27 per cent of their field goals in the first half but a number of missed opportunities in the third term came back to haunt them as Townsville built an insurmountable 15-point lead in the final quarter.
Cambage led Melbourne with 18 points and nine rebounds while guard Brittany Smart added 14 points.
Townsville opened up a 20-14 lead at the first change before Batkovic took charge in the second quarter with a lay-up and a pair of long jump shots over Cambage to push the lead out to 12 points.
Maddie Garrick ended the Townsville run but the Boomers could not keep the points flowing as the home side went into the main break ahead 35-27.
Melbourne cut the margin to two points but Batkovic answered to prevent the visitors from drawing level and closed the third quarter with a long triple for a 55-43 lead.
The Boomers got within 10 points early in the fourth quarter but the Fire proved to good.
Batkovic, along with Mia Murray, Cayla George and Micaela Cocks, have played in all three Townsville championships while veteran point guard Kelly Wilson claimed her third WNBL title after winning back-to-back crowns with the Bendigo Spirit.
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