Playing in front of a packed Nissan Arena – with the attendance of 4788 the biggest in Firebirds’ history at the venue – on an emotional and moving First Nations Round fixture, the Lightning proved too good with an 83-67 win.
The match began after a memorable Welcome to Country including a spine-tingling performance by Mitch Tambo and the Voice of Le Le which had the bumper crowd pumping before a ball had been passed.
When the action did begin, both teams went into shootout mode with Tippah Dwan and Steph Fretwell trading Suncorp Super Shots before a Reilley Batcheldor two-pointer on the buzzer ensured the visitors held a four-point lead at the first turn.
Firebirds captain Kim Ravaillion made her long-awaited return to the court in the second quarter and her presence and leadership was needed off the bench with the Lightning seizing advantage of the match with a 23-13 quarter.
Down by 14 points at halftime, the Firebirds rallied and shared the spoils in the third quarter with Emily Moore coming off the bench to great impact with 10 points including four Suncorp Super Shots.
Moore was again eye-catching in the fourth quarter with three more double-pointers but it was in vain with the Lightning keeping the Firebirds at arm’s length to secure the Queensland Cup for 2024.
The Firebirds wrap up their 2024 SSN campaign next weekend with another home match against the Melbourne Vixens.
All Firebirds home games for the 2024 season are now on sale via Ticketek and every Firebirds match is also live and on demand on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
