SUNSHINE Coast Lightning broke a four-game losing streak with a 66-62 win over a valiant Collingwood Magpies. After Collingwood shocked everyone with a dominant second term to take a solid lead into half-time, the Lightning rallied and ultimately came away victorious by four goals.

Collingwood pounced on a footwork call in their favour to be the first of the two teams to pinch a goal off the other’s centre pass, and consolidated off the next centre pass to take an early lead. That lead did not last very long though as the Lightning shot the next two goals to eliminate the lead.

Collingwood was quick to re-establish its lead though, and this time around established a handy buffer of more than a handful of goals. The Magpies maintained a three to four goal lead for much of the quarter as they were converting defensive gains better than they had been for much of this season.

However once the Power Five began the Collingwood lead was gone as Steph Wood took no time to find her range from Super Shot territory.

Collingwood on the other hand certainly tried to match Wood from Super Shot range but their attempts did not prove fruitful. But, the Magpies managed to sneak ahead late in the term to take a two goal lead into the first change.

Collingwood maintained their lead early in the second term, even growing it slightly. The Magpies defence really lifted in the second term, making it really tough for the Lightning’s attack to effectively make an impact on the game.

Collingwood got out to as much as nine goals ahead, but the Lightning pegged it back slightly to see the margin sit at seven at the main break.

The Lightning came out firing to begin the second half, and quickly found themselves within two goals of the Magpies. They took just under five minutes to fully reel in the half time margin in a dominant display.

Sunshine Coast was not done there, as they continued to put the foot down and streak ahead. Collingwood fought back late, but was still three goals down at the final change after the Lightning scored double the amount of goals the Magpies did in the quarter.

The Lightning were able to maintain their lead for much of the final term, but it was no more than three goals so they could hardly afford to rest on their laurels. It was a fair assessment as just inside the Power Five, Collingwood levelled the score.

It stayed tight for much of the Power Five until Wood landed a crucial Super Shot with a minute left to go. Sophie Garbin then had an opportunity to level things up with a Super Shot of her own, but like much of her earlier attempts from range it dropped short. The Lightning then went and scored two straight regular goals to win by four.

For the Lightning, Wood finished with a whopping six successful Super Shots, while both Ash Ervin (five gains, four deflections, two intercepts, one rebound) and Karla Pretorius (five gains, four deflections, four rebounds, two intercepts) starred in defence.

For Collingwood, it was again its defence who shone, in particular Jodi-Ann Ward (five gains, two intercepts, two deflections, two rebounds) and Ash Brazill (three gains, two intercepts, two deflections).

SUNSHINE COAST LIGHTNING     17 | 15 | 20 | 14 (66)
COLLINGWOOD MAGPIES            19 | 20 | 10 | 13 (62)

STARTING SEVENS

Sunshine Coast Lightning

GS: Cara Koenen
GA: Steph Wood
WA: Annie Miller
C: Laura Scherian
WD: Mahalia Cassidy
GD: Karla Pretorius
GK: Kadie-Ann Dehaney

Collingwood Magpies

GS: Shimona Nelson
GA: Sophie Garbin
WA: Kelsey Browne
C: Molly Jovic
WD: Ash Brazill
GD: Jodi-Ann Ward
GK: Geva Mentor