Fire down Flyers in thriller to make WNBL grand final

The Townsville Fire have rebounded from devastation to beat the Southside Melbourne Flyers 84-74 and secure a second consecutive WNBL grand final berth.

In a do-or-die clash where the winner would progress to the championship series, both teams brought the intensity at the Townsville Entertainment Centre on Sunday.

But on the back of forward Alicia Froling's career-high 26 points along with nine rebounds and two blocks, it was the minor champions who qualified for a return to the league's deciding series, having finished runners-up to Bendigo last season.

It took a 14-3 second-quarter run for Townsville to take a commanding lead and lay a platform for victory.

A CAREER-GAME TO MAKE THE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES 💪 Dropping 26 points, Alicia Froling has dominated the paint in the 84-74 win over Southside Melbourne Flyers to end the Semi Final Series 😮💨 The Championship Series starts on Thursday, in Townsville Live & Free on 9Now 📺 pic.twitter.com/1LBsla4bNR— WNBL (@WNBL) February 22, 2026

The Flyers stayed in contention, cutting the deficit to four points late in the fourth quarter, but missed several late opportunities as Courtney Woods and Miela Sowah (18 points) downed free throws to win.

Woods (four steals) and Abbey Ellis were typically inspirational, posting 19 and 13 points respectively.

The win also came after Townsville suffered a hefty 109-89 defeat in their second semi-final game against the Flyers last Wednesday.

The Fire will now play the Perth Lynx in the best-of-three grand final, which begins in Townsville on Thursday.

"If anyone's going to have their career high at game three of a semi-final, it's going to be Alicia Froling. It's absolutely awesome," Woods said.

"They're (Flyers) a team that's capable of winning a championship. We knew going into tonight that we had to play a really good game."

In her 200th game, Southside Melbourne's Maddy Rocci was busy with 20 points and eight assists while veteran Cayla George pocketed 25 points and six rebounds.

But it wasn't enough as the Flyers missed their chance to make a fourth grand final in six years.

The result ends Southside Melbourne's see-sawing season, where they finished the regular campaign in fourth spot (11-12) after coach Kristi Harrower signed several new stars, including George, Haley Peters, and Issie Bourne.

"I wanted to come out and do everything I possibly could to help the team," a tearful Rocci said. "But to fall just short of a grand final is pretty upsetting and disappointing.

"It was tough. As a playing group, we've shown we can beat any team, and that's something we can be extremely proud of."

Both teams brought the fireworks to start as Rocci had three assists and seven points to help Southside Melbourne lead 25-21 at the first break.

Ellis and Woods stepped up in the second quarter to fire Townsville to an eight-point lead, but Rocci continued to shoot the lights out to cut the deficit to six points at halftime.

Southside Melbourne upped the ante in the fourth quarter, but they couldn't find the baskets in the last three minutes to snatch victory.