Either way, a Jamaican player would have become 2023 Suncorp Super Netball League champion but at the end of an intensely grand-final at the John Cain Arena on Saturday, it was the Jamaican defensive pair of Shamera Sterling and Latanya Wilson that sealed the deal as Adelaide Thunderbirds defeated New South Wales Swifts 60-59 in overtime.

Three-time champion Romelda Aiken-George who led the Swifts’ scoring with 27 goals had to settle for the position of runner-up in a match-up that will be remembered for ages.

Sterling was the first to make her mark on the match battling Aiken-George for the ball and drawing the offensive contact to put the Thunderbirds ahead.

Following suite, her teammate Wilson controlled the ball for another gain and the Thunderbirds then blitzed out to a five-goal lead.

Swift Helen Housby had her eyes firmly locked on the goal when she entered the Suncorp Super Shot zone during the Power Five to confidently narrow the Thunderbirds’ lead.

However, Sterling prevented the Swifts from getting too close with an intercept before the end of the quarter allowing the Thunderbirds to head into the break in front 16-12.

Eleanor Cardwell led the scoring for Adelaide with 31 goals and Lucy Austin had nine goals as Adelaide extended their advantage to eight points at half time after outscoring their opponents 19-15 in the second stanza to take a 35-27 led into the break.

The break proved to be a welcome one for New South Wales, who had eliminated last year’s champions West Coast Fever in last week’s preliminary final.

They emerged from the break with renewed focus and cut decisively into Adelaide’s lead after outscoring them 13-8 in the third quarter and was only down by three heading into the final stanza.

They used that momentum to outscore Adelaide 14-11 in the final quarter as the final whistle sounded with the scores locked at 54-54.

Overtime proved just as intense both Helen Housby and Cardwell stepping up to the challenge early slotting Super Shots for their respective teams.

However, the Thunderbirds’ defensive pressure forced the Swifts into a held ball and Cardwell capitalized again but then an offensive contact had the Swifts charging.

Fawns levelled the scores for the Swifts but Sterling showed why she’s the best interceptor in the league burying the Swifts dreams as her teammates made the intercept count.

The Swifts tried their hardest, however, were unable to halt the pink tide with the Thunderbirds winning by one goal.

Romelda Aiken-George’s New South Wales Swifts stunned Jhaniele Fowler’s defending champions West Coast Fever 65-64 to advance to the grand final of the Suncorp Super Netball League.

The Fever got out to a 19-15 lead at the end of the first quarter at the Qudos Bank Arena in New South Wales on Saturday.

An 18-16 second quarter win for the Swifts meant the deficit between the teams at half-time was just two, with the defending champions ahead 35-33.

After the third quarter, the Fever enjoyed a 51-46 lead and looked set to get a chance to defend their title.

The Swifts had other ideas, however, and produced a stunning fourth quarter comeback, outscoring the Fever 19-13 to secure the one-point win and a trip to the title decider.

Aiken-George led the way with 25 goals from 26 attempts for the Swifts while Fowler scored 55 goals from 56 attempts for the Fever.

Their opponents in the Grand Final will be the Adelaide Thunderbirds, home of Sunshine Girls Shamera Sterling and Latanya Wilson.

The Swifts will be looking for revenge after the Thunderbirds beat them 64-62 in the preliminary finals.

Spurred by Jhaniele Fowler’s 55 goals, defending Suncorp Super League champions, West Coast Fever, defeated Melbourne Vixens 64-57 on Sunday to advance to the preliminary final against New South Wales Swifts on July 1.

 The winner will the Adelaide Thunderbirds in the Grand Final set for July 8.

The Thunderbirds defeated the Swifts 64-62 on Saturday night.

In what was a tough match, Fowler playing before her home crowd at the RAC Arena, missed just one shot as Fever led each quarter 15-14, 17-16, 16-14, before opening up a seven-point lead after taking the final quarter 16-13.

Mwai Kumwenda only missed one of her 40 attempts to lead the scoring for the Vixens.

Over at the Qudos Bank Arena, Romelda Aiken George’s 29 goals were not enough to get the New South Wales Swifts against the Thunderbirds, who pulled off a dramatic 64-62 victory to book a place in the Grand Finals.

Helen Housby added 15 goals for the Swifts but Eleanor Cardwell’s 18 goals, 13 from Lucy Austin and 11 from Tippa Dwan were just enough to seal the Thunderbirds’ place in the final.

The semi-final match-ups have been set in the Suncorp Super Netball League after the top two teams lost on the weekend of the league.

The weekend results mean that Romelda Aiken George’s Swifts will take on Shamera Sterling’s Thunderbirds at Qudos Bank Arena on Saturday, June 24, the in the first of two semi-final clashes. The winner will face victor of the West Coast Fever/Melbourne Vixens clash at the RAC Arena on Sunday, June 25.

On Saturday, league leaders New South Wales Swifts fell victim to the Adelaide Thunderbirds who won the electrifying encounter 60-57 at the Ken Rosewall Arena. Thunderbirds led 32-29 at half-time but by the end of the third both teams were locked on 42 points apiece heading into the crucial fourth quarter.

Thunderbirds edged it taking the quarter 18-15 to seal victory.

Eleanor Cardwell scored 25 goals and Lucy Austin 16 for the Thunderbirds, who moved back into second place with their ninth win of the season and broke a nine-game winning streak by the Swifts for whom Romelda Aiken George scored 27 which included her 8000^th goal in the league. Helen Housby supported with 11 goals.

Defending champions West Coast Fever slipped back to third after going down 65-62 Collingwood Magpies at the Silverdome to record their fifth loss of the season.

In her last match as a Magpie, Shimona Nelson scored 51 goals which proved to be enough to overcome the 53 scored by Fever’s Jhaniele Fowler and help script the franchise’s fairytale ending.

Meanwhile, the Sunshine Coast Lightning burned the Queensland Firebirds 66-60 and GIANTS defeated Melbourne Vixens 60-57.

In an impressive display of shooting prowess, Jhaniele Fowler led the defending Suncorp Super League champions, West Coast Fever, to a 72-61 victory over the GIANTS at the RAC Arena on Saturday. Fowler's scoring prowess was on full display as she matched the GIANTS' final score of 61 points, missing only one shot throughout the match.

Contributing to the Fever's success, Sasha Glasgow maintained a perfect shooting record, going three for three and nailing four super shots. By halftime, the Fever held a narrow 37-33 lead.

Despite Jo Harten's 19 goals and the combined efforts of Matisse Letherbarrow and Sophie Dwyer, who both scored 10 goals, the GIANTS found themselves trailing by 10 points at the end of the third quarter. The Fever outscored them 21-15 in a dominant display.

Although the final quarter was a more evenly contested affair, the outcome of the match had already been decided.

With this victory, their ninth of the season, the Fever climbed to second place in the league standings. The New South Wales Swifts remain at the top of the table after a convincing 78-65 win against the Queensland Firebirds at the Nissan Arena. Romelda Aiken-George led the charge for the Swifts, racking up an impressive 43 goals. Supported by Helen Housby's 17 goals, the Swifts secured their 10th win of the season.

Despite Donnell Wallam's 34 goals for the Firebirds, it was another defeat for the team, marking their ninth loss of the season, and leaving them in seventh place in the league.

In the meantime, former league leaders Adelaide Thunderbirds slipped to third place after suffering a close 56-54 loss to the Sunshine Coast Lightning at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.

Adelaide Thunderbirds suffered their third loss of the season and have fallen to second place when they went down 53-50 to bottom-placed Collingwood Magpies on Saturday.

Shimona Nelson scored 44 goals and Sophie Garbin nine, in a 100 per cent shooting effort as the Magpies in their final season in the Suncorp Super Netball league overcame the defensive efforts of Shamera Sterling and Latanya Wilson.

Collingwood led 16-12 after the first quarter and held a 27-23 lead at half time.

Collingwood widened their lead with another 16-12 effort in the third quarter and held on for the win despite a fourth-quarter rally from Thunderbirds who outscored Collinwood 15-10.

Eleanor Cardwell scored 27 goals from 29 attempts in the loss that saw Thunderbirds’ record fall to second place in the league table with eight wins, one draw and three losses this season.

The new league leaders are the New South Wales Swifts who defeated GIANTS 68-63 thanks in part to Romelda Aikens-George’s 32 goals from 39 attempts and Helen Housby’s 100 percent shooting for 18 goals.

Matisse Leatherbarrow and Jo Harten each scored 13 goals while Sophie Dwyer had 11 from 13 in the losing cause.

The Swifts now boast a record of nine wins, one draw and two losses after 12 rounds.

In the other game on Saturday, Queensland Firebirds defeated Melboune Vixens 76-71.

Key defensive plays from Shamera Sterling and Latanya Wilson overcame another high-percentage shooting performance from Jhaniele Fowler as the Adelaide Thunderbirds pulled off another thrilling one-goal win 54-53 over the West Coast Fever at the Netball SA Stadium on Saturday.

Fowler, the Suncorp Super Netball League’s leading scorer, converted 42 of 43 attempts but it was not enough to prevent the reigning champions from falling to their fourth defeat of the season.

Wilson earned 74.5 Nissan Net Points and Sterling 63 for defensive play that held off the defending champions who led 20-12 after the first quarter. However, the league leaders managed to close the gap by the half-time interval after outscoring Fever 14-11 in the second.

The low-scoring encounter saw the Thunderbirds win the third and fourth quarters, 13-10 and 15-12, respectively to snatch another close win. Eleanor Cardwell converted 26 of her 30 shots and Lucy Austin scored six from six in the hard-fought victory.

Adelaide Thunderbirds now have eight wins and just two losses from their 11 games this season while Fever dropped to seven wins and four losses and are only third on goal difference over Melbourne Vixens who also have a record of seven wins and four losses.

The Vixens suffered their fourth loss of the season going down 70-62 to New South Wales Swifts, who got 29 goals from Romelda Aiken-George from 34 attempts and a perfect 16 from 16 from Helen Housby.

Mwai Kumwenda scored 33 of her 35 attempts for the Vixens.

Meanwhile, Shimona Nelson scored 53 goals from 56 attempts for the Collingwood Magpies, whose miserable season will be their last in the Suncorp Super Netball League, as they suffered yet another defeat.

The Magpies were outscored 66-62 by the Sunshine Coast Lightning in what was their ninth loss of the season.

Cara Koenen scored 34 from 35 and Steph Wood 20/24 for the Lightning who were picking up their fourth win of the season and are current fifth in the league standings.

Defending Suncorp Super Netball League champions West Coast Fever rebounded by last weekend’s loss with a record-breaking performance against the Queensland Firebirds on Sunday.

Having lost to New South Wales Swifts by a single goal last week, and three of their last four to slip to third in the league table, the Fever responded by crushing the Firebirds 97-63 at the RAC Arena. The 97 goals scored was the highest number of goals scored in a single match in the league.

Led by Jhaniele Fowler’s 52 goals from 56 attempts and Sasha Glasgow’s perfect 15 of 15, the Fever led by 10 (27-17) at the end of the first quarter and extended the lead to 20 at half time after outscoring Queensland 23-13 in the second.

The Firebirds managed to rally in the third quarter in which they were outscored 21-18 but the Fever put their foot back down on their necks in the final quarter 26-15 to win by a massive 34 goals.

Donnell Wallam led the scoring for the Firebirds with 37 goals from 40 attempts.

Fowler scored her 500^th goal of the season and ended the match with a tally of 552, 75 more than Wallam.

The Fever’s seventh win of the season saw them maintain third place in the league standings despite Adelaide Thunderbirds falling to a massive 21-point loss to Melbourne Vixens on Saturday.

The league leaders suffered only their second loss of the season 60-39 due mainly to outstanding defensive play by the Vixen’s mid-court.

Shamera Sterling had a strong start for the Thunderbirds, with a rebound, two intercepts, and a deflection in a formidable first term. Her performance spurred the Thunderbirds to a three-point lead (14-11) over the Vixens as the first quarter came to a close.

However, the Vixens defense were relentless. Emily Mannix had an impressive display with five intercepts, four deflections as the Vixens stamped their authority on the encounter.

Mwai Kumwenda (21/22) and Kiera Austin (23/30) led the scoring for the Vixens while Eleanor Cardwell scored 21 of 24 and Georgie Horjus scored eight goals for the Thunderbirds.

In another lop-sided match on Saturday, Romelda Aiken-George scored 26 from 32 attempts, Helen Housby 14 from 17 and Sophie Fawns 17 from 22 as the New South Wales Swifts swamped Collingwood Magpies 85-56 at the Ken Rosewall Arena despite Shimona Nelson’s 35 goals from just 37 attempts.

It was the Swifts’ largest margin of victory this season.

Defending Suncorp Super Netball champions West Coast Fever lost their third match of the season going down 65-64 to New South Wales Swifts and slipped to third in the league standings after what was their third loss in their last four games.

The win means the Swifts, led by Romelda Aiken-George, who scored 28 of 34, leapfrogged the Fever into second place in the standings going into round 10 of the competition.

Jhaniele Fowler, the league’s leading scorer, scored a game-high 53 goals from 55 shots, and Natalie Butler three of four for the Fever, who were without their vice-captain Jess Anstiss and goal attack Sasha Glasgow, who were ruled out due to Covid-19 Health and Safety Protocols.

The Swifts led 32-20 at half-time and despite a late rally from the Fever, they came up a goal short in the end.

Meanwhile, the Adelaide Thunderbirds maintained their position at the top of the standings after crushing the Queensland Firebirds 63-46.

Eleanor Cardwell led the scoring for the Thunderbirds with 27 from 32 and Lucy Austin, who supported with 19 from 21, while Shamera Sterling had six interceptions in what was a close match heading into the final quarter.

However, the Thunderbirds dominated the final stanza 24-9 to claim victory.

Shimona Nelson’s perfect night, scoring 46 goals from as many attempts, was unable to prevent the Collingwood Magpies from going down 69-56 to GIANTS.

On the back of 46 goals out of 52 attempts from Jamaican shooter Romelda Aiken-George, the New South Wales Swifts completed a remarkable fourth quarter comeback to beat the Melbourne Vixens in their Suncorp Super netball League game at the Ken Rosewall Arena in New South Wales on Saturday.

The Vixens won the first quarter 16-15 before a 15-15 tie in the second meant they entered halftime with a 31-30 lead.

The Melbourne-based outfit then produced some excellent Netball in the third quarter, winning 22-16, to enter the fourth and final stanza with a daunting 53-46 lead.

The Swifts had other plans, however, winning the final quarter 21-14 to complete a narrow 67-66 win.

British goal attack Helen Housby provided good support for Aiken-George with 12 goals from as many attempts.

Malawi’s Mwai Kumwenda tried her best for the Vixens with 47 goals from 50 attempts.

Jhanielle Fowler had another near perfect night but her West Coast Fever had to hold off a spirited comeback from the Queensland Firebirds to snatch their fifth-straight victory 73-71 in the Suncorp Super Netball League at the Nissan Arena on Saturday night.

The towering Jamaican goal shooter scored 60 of 61 shots as the defending champions outscored their opponents 25-15 and 18-15 over the first two quarters to take a 13-goal lead into the half-time break. Sasha Glasgow who was a perfect five for five and scored three of six super shots was also key to the victory as the Firebirds provided the champions with a genuine scare.

Whereas the Fever were dominant in the first half, the Firebirds showed that they too could play that game in the second.

Donnell Wallan, who scored 48 goals from 53 attempts and sunk seven of 10 super shots in the game, helped the Firebirds storm back to outscore the Fever 21-15 in the third and 25-20 in the final stanza. She got support from Emily Moore who was perfect inside the circle and who hit one of two super shots and Mia Mayer (2/2) and scored one of two super shots to come within two goals of the champions.

However, that was as close as they would get as the Fever desperately held on for the win.

Fowler has missed only four attempts on goal in five matches this season, scoring 280 goals from 284 attempts.

Meanwhile, Romelda Aiken-George scored 43 goals from 49 attempts to lead the New South Wales Swifts to a close 64-63 win over Sunshine Coast Lightning at the UniSC Arena.

Over at the Ken Rosewall Arena, Shimona Nelson scored 36 goals from 38 attempts but her Collingwood Magies lost 59-55 to GIANTS for whom Jo Harten scored 33 from 35 and Sophie Dwyer 20 from 22.

In a match-up of Jamaican shooters in the Suncorp Super Netball League on Sunday, Jhanielle Fowler’s West Coast Fever rallied to defeat Romelda Aiken-George’s New South Wales Swifts 78-67 and maintain their unbeaten record so far this season.

In the match played at the Ken Rosewall Arena, the defending champions found themselves trailing early to an aggressive Swifts unit lead by Aiken-George’s 33 goals from 37 attempts. Helen Housby supported with 17 goals from 18.

Swifts led 18-15 at the end of the first quarter.

Fowler, meanwhile, who has been near perfect this season, led the comeback as the Fever outscored their opponents 20-17 in the second quarter as the teams went into the half-time break tied at 35-35.

Goal attack Sasha Glasgow scored seven from eight as the champions dominated the third quarter 24-16 before closing out the game 19-16 to take their fourth win from four games this season.

Fowler, the MVP for the last four seasons, has so far scored 220 goals this season, 39 more from fellow Jamaican Shimona Nelson who has scored 181 goals for the Colllingwood Magpies that beat Queensland Firebirds 69-61 on Saturday.

Nelson scored 61 from 66 attempts in the victory over the winless Firebirds.

Meanwhile, despite a league leading 417.5 Nissan Net Points from Shamera Sterling, the Adelaide Thunderbirds suffered their first loss of the season, going down 54-59 to GIANTS.

Jhanielle Fowler was perfect from the field and needed to be as the defending Suncorp Super League Netball Champions West Coast Fever held off GIANTS to win by a single goal 74-73 on Saturday at the Ken Rosewall Arena.

The Fever’s shooters missed just once with Sasha Glasgow scoring five goals from her six attempts and hit crucial super shots in the thrilling encounter that ended with the defending champions going 2-0 in their first two games of the season. They won both games by one goal.

Reigning MVP Fowler scored 59 goals from as many attempts and has now scored 167 straight goals without a miss in the league. Her last miss came during the first quarter of last season’s final.

The GIANTS welcomed back Maddie Hay and Jo Harten into their line-up and they proved to be exactly what their team needed. Still, the Fever led 21-20 at the end of the first quarter.

On the back of Fowler’s accurate shooting, the Fever opened up a lead, which extended to as wide as 10 goals but were eventually reeled in by the GIANTS, who were eventually outscored 19-17 in the second quarter to lead by three at the half.

Harten scored 22 goals from 23 attempts and Sophie Dwyer 21 from 24 as GIANTS looked to rally but were forced to depend heavily on super shots to keep them close to the champions who outscored them 23-15 in the third quarter.

However, the GIANTS did rally with Harten and Dwyer shooting the lights out to outscore The Fever 21-11 in the final quarter but the lead proved too much to overcome.

Over at the Nissan Arena, Kadie-Ann Dehaney’s Sunshine Coast Lightning defeated Queensland Firebirds 65-55. Meanwhile, a power outage at the SA Netball Stadium resulted in a 25-25 tie between the Adelaide Thunderbirds and the New South Wales Swifts.

Romelda Aiken-George had scored 15 goals from 19 attempts when the game was called off.

Jamaican superstar Jhaniele Fowler was at her dominant best to help the West Coast Fever win a dramatic rematch of the 2022 Suncorp Super Netball League grand finale over the Melbourne Vixens at the RAC Arena in Perth on Saturday.

The end of the first quarter saw the Fever enjoy a 17-12 lead before the Vixens won the second by one to reduce the halftime deficit to four, with the Fever leading 32-28.

The third quarter saw the Vixens chip into the lead a little more to set up a tense fourth quarter with the score now being 48-46 in favour of the Fever.

The teams fought to the end in the final stanza, with the Fever eventually coming out 62-61 winners.

Fowler, who has won the league’s player of the year award for the past five seasons, shot a perfect 55/55 to lead the Fever to a win to kick off the defence of their 2022 title.

Elsewhere, Shimona Nelson scored 53 goals from as many attempts to lead the Collingwood Magpies to a 71-63 win over the New South Wales Swifts, for whom Romelda Aiken-George scored 30 goals from 35 attempts.