Lightning beat Vixens advance to Super Netball semi-finals

Sunshine Coast Lightning secured their place in the Super Netball playoffs with a 56-51 victory over Melbourne Vixens.

Sunshine Coast Lightning’s Kelsey Browne gathers the ball against Melbourne Vixens at Hisense Arena yesterday. Picture: AAP

Sunshine Coast Lightning secured their place in the Super Netball playoffs with a 56-51 victory over Melbourne Vixens.

After an 0-3 start to their premiership defence, the Lightning stormed home to win five of their past six matches and yesterday eliminated the Vixens from the semi-final race.

“It wasn’t pretty today but it was important that we got the right amount of points that put us through to finals,” Lightning captain Geva Mentor said.

With shooter Caitlin Bassett (41/47) in ominous form at Hisense Arena, the Sunshine Coast side ended the regular season in fourth spot and will face the third-placed Firebirds in an all-Queensland minor semi-final on Sunday.

The finals of the netball comp

Needing to make up a six-point margin on the ladder, the Vixens grabbed the first bonus point but the Lightning produced a 16-9 second quarter to swing the momentum.

The visitors then opened the third term with five unanswered goals to take control.

“We wanted the win and we wanted the points to get through to finals,” Vixens coach Simone McKinnis said.

“It’s an end to the season and that’s always disappointing when it finishes earlier than you want it to.”

The Giants claimed the minor premiership following Saturday’s 69-66 win over West Coast Fever. The sides will meet again in Sydney on Saturday in the major semi-final.

The Vixens were rocked before yesterday’s encounter when leading scorer Mwai Kumwenda was ruled out as the result of a knee injury suffered in last week’s loss to West Coast.

Former Vixen Kim Commane (31/33) was called up to fill the vacancy at goal shooter and combined well early with Tegan Philip (20/24) before the Lightning gained the upper hand.

The Vixens conceded the opening two goals of the match but recovered to lead by three with 90 seconds remaining in the quarter. The Lightning scored two quick goals but Kadie-Ann Dehaney’s late deflection secured the home side’s 15-14 lead at the first change.

But the defending champions lifted in the second quarter as Geva Mentor and Karla Pretorius made life difficult for the Vixens’ attackers, while Bassett piled on 11 goals to establish a 30-24 advantage at halftime.

Needing one more bonus point to ensure a top-four finish, the Lightning opened the third quarter with a 5-0 run and the Vixens couldn’t bounce back.

AAP