A TREMENDOUS second half performance from Lauren Nicholson has kept the Sydney Flames‘ hopes of a finals appearance alive, with the captain leading her side to a thrilling three-point win over the Geelong Venom.

The Flames hosted the Venom at the Quaycentre on Wednesday night, having just two wins to their name from eight wins and their chances of a postseason berth fading if they did not turn things around soon given the number of contenders so far this season. They were coming up against a Geelong side fresh off a loss earlier in the round, and also fighting to keep up with the eight ball in the standings.

The Venom looked in control for much of the contest, leading at the first three changes and by as much as 10 points in the fourth quarter, before the Flames stormed home to force overtime, and in the extra period, outscored Geelong to claim a nail-biting three-point win.

After going scoreless in the first half, Nicholson came to life in the third and fourth quarters as well as overtime to finish as the most influential player on the court and showing her ability to take over a contest.

Sydney Flames (97) def. Geelong Venom (94)

Lauren Nicholson – 21 points, three rebounds, three assists, two steals, one block

It was a tale of two halves for the Flames skipper, whose second half and overtime showing proved defining in the context of the match, and gave the home side the offensive spark they needed to overrun the Venom on Wednesday night.

She was barely sighted prior to the main break as the Flames fell behind on the scoreboard, with the skipper unable to find the bottom of the net and not having much of an impact on the offensive side of the ball. Sydney was missing her shotmaking ability, and the hosts were struggling to keep up with Geelong’s production on the scoring front.

However, a driving layup and finish at the cup on the eve of three quarter time gave the Flames a spark heading into the final term, and marked her first made field goal of the contest. However, both Nicholson and Sydney had a long way to go if they were to pull off the comeback win, especially when Geelong’s lead ballooned out to double digits.

The Flames skipper nailed a nice pull-up jumper from two-point territory midway through the fourth quarter to cut the margin to eight points, which seemed to be the catalyst for the remainder of her match. She brought her team within three points with a clutch triple a couple of minutes later, before stealing the ball on the next possession and nailing another bomb from behind the arc to tie up proceedings and ignite the Quaycentre.

After splitting a pair of free throws shortly after, Nicholson then used her smarts to find Unique Thompson on the perimeter in the final play of the game, and the latter made the most of the space created to knock down the clutch three-pointer to tie up the match and force overtime in remarkable fashion.

Nicholson continued to have a say on the contest in overtime, drawing contact early in the extra period and converting truly at the charity stripe to get the Flames off to a perfect start. The skipper then nailed another pair of midrange jumpers off the dribble to get Sydney out in front once again after the Venom looked to answer.

She nailed the final free throws of the match to seal the result, showing plenty of class and composure with the game on the line and capped off a remarkable turnaround from the home team on the back of her return to form.

Nicholson finished the game with 21 points, shooting 7/13 from the field and 7/8 from the free throw line, with all of her points coming after half-time in a terrific resurgence. Putting the team on her back, the Flames captain was immense in the win over the Venom and appears to have a huge role to play as Sydney chases a finals spot in the coming months.