The Southside Melbourne Flyers will finish 2025 in the top four after racking up the biggest score by any team this WNBL season in a 113-94 thrashing of the Sydney Flames.
Maddi Rocci (20 points, nine assists) and Haley Peters (21 points, six assists) combined on an 11-2 run to finish the first quarter, handing the Flyers a lead they never surrendered at Qudos Bank Arena.
Things only became more dominant from there. The visitors put up 34 points in Tuesday's second quarter - their most productive term of the season - to take an imperious 17-point lead into the main change.
The Flames never seriously threatened a comeback with Cayla George (23 points) topping the scoresheet against her old side.
"I've been waiting for that game all season, pretty much. To score 113 and have 32 assists as a team is pretty impressive," said Flyers coach Kristi Harrower.
Rocci left the contest with seven minutes to play after falling heavily in a challenge from Unique Thompson but is expected to face Geelong on Saturday.
It's been a resurgent fortnight for the Flyers, who lost six of seven games immediately before winning three of their last four.
The latest victory lifts Harrower's side into fourth place on the ladder above Canberra, who also have a 6-8 record but an inferior percentage.
Peters said playing finals was "always the goal".
"We've come a long way and we still have a long way to go," said the American import.
Thompson (18 points, seven rebounds) was a shining light for the Flames, dominating the paint for the hosts' first 12 points of the second term.
Incredibly, 10 of those came in the space of just two minutes, nine seconds.
But when Tera Reed (15 points, seven rebounds) began to cook off the bench on return from concussion, the game swung back into the Flyers' hands.
In one particularly memorable moment, Reed stepped around a feeble defensive effort from Loz Nicholson (21 points) for an easy lay-up that confirmed a then-game high 16-point lead.
The Flames, by contrast, missed all seven of their field-goal attempts in a game-defining final four-and-a-half minutes of the second quarter.
The hosts were intent on shooting the three-ball but hit only one of 12 attempts for the first half and watched as a Reed free throw pushed the deficit to 17 at the main break.
Five Flyers scored in double figures as the visitors stormed home.
The loss brings the Flames back to earth after their first win under coach Renae Garlepp, who has a 1-5 record since taking charge mid-season.
"I felt like we were on the right track defensively so today's just a little bit disappointing," said Garlepp.
"I know all the girls are incredibly disappointed in how we came out and the result."
