Playing on Wurundjeri Country in their eye-catching First Nations dress featuring artwork by Mayi-Kulan and Kalkadoon woman Leah Cummins, the Firebirds toiled hard against a star-studded Vixens but just couldn't get over the line, losing 64-62.
In her milestone 50th game, Macy Gardner was great in midcourt against Vixens superstar Kate Moloney, notching 11 goal assists, two gains, an intercept and a deflection in the bruising battle with the Australian Diamonds international.
Fellow midcourter Lara Dunkley was also impressive with 20 goal assists and 34 feeds while co-captain Ruby Bakewell-Doran again shone in defence with four gains and two rebounds against the Vixens dual-Diamonds goal circle of Kiera Austin and Sophie Garbin, with young guns Ash Barnett and Isabelle Shearer providing good support with two gains each.
The Firebirds began brightly, scoring the first two goals of the match, but the Vixens pounced on some errors late in the opening term to take a five-point lead into the first break.
Just as the match threatened to get away from the Firebirds however, Emily Moore stepped off the bench with a flurry of Suncorp Super Shots in the second quarter Power Five to turn the game around and put the Firebirds ahead by one going into halftime.
The teams traded goals for most of the third term before the Vixens went on a run in the Power 5 to restore a five-goal lead heading into the final quarter.
Sensing a possible upset, the Firebirds stormed home in the game's closing minutes, reducing the margin to just one goal with seconds left to play with Moore and Abigail Latu-Meafou combining to hit three Suncorp Super Shots but were unable to find a turnover to get their noses in front before the clock ran out.
"Everyone across the court today really stepped up and owned their position," Head Coach Kiri Wills said.
"So I was actually really, really proud of them tonight, and it is so disappointing that we didn't come away with the win, but they put up a really good fight.
"It's work. No-one comes into any game or any season expecting to be last, and so that's a huge disappointment for all of us, but we just keep chipping away every week."
The Firebirds complete their 2025 SSN campaign next weekend in a Round 14 clash with interstate rivals NSW Swifts at Nissan Arena on Sunday, July 13.
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