A roaring, sellout crowd of 13,847 packed into RAC Arena for a do-or-die Saturday night clash.
The final whistle had rewritten the script as the Mavericks prevailed 60–57 in a brave contest that went down to the final minutes and may go down as a defining moment in the club’s short history, claiming their first-ever victory at RAC Arena, achieved in front of the green army.
Mavericks captain Amy Parmenter took charge before the opening whistle, asking the umpire for the teams to swap ends.
The Mavericks then wasted no time setting the tone, taking the first centre pass and immediately looking to the towering presence of Shimona Nelson in attack.
Opposingly, Glasgow opened the scoring for Fever, only for Nelson to respond instantly at the other end.
From there, the opening quarter became a showcase of attacking confidence. Jamie-Lee Price was already stamping authority through the midcourt, threading sharp passes into Nelson, while Maddie Hay’s relentless feeding ensured the ball kept coming.
But Fever weren’t backing down.
A tactical timeout midway through the quarter saw Fever coach Dan Ryan deliver a clear message to his side.
“Don’t over-respect them. Have no hesitation,” he said, encouraging his players to attack the contest with confidence.
Romelda Aiken-George quickly found rhythm under the post, punishing every inch of space she was given, while Fran Williams and Kadie-Ann Dehaney began to settle into a fierce defensive force.
A clean Teague-Neeld intercept helped this momentum, but a clutch rebound from Kim Brown and a Super Shot by Batcheldor made sure the Mavericks’ structure held firm at quarter time; the Mavericks led by 6.
Fever came out of the break with intent, Ruth Aryang sparking early defensive pressure and forcing a rare stoppage in Mavericks’ flow.
But the response from Melbourne was immediate, with Nelson's performance near-perfect, continuing a flawless shooting streak that stretched deep into the first half, while the Fever defence struggled to find any consistent answer.
Jamie-Lee Price continued dictating tempo, and Amy Parmenter’s defensive pressure around the circle edge began to choke Fever’s transition game.
Still, the Fever had weapons. Aiken-George’s finishing kept them within touching distance, and Glasgow’s super shot ability swung momentum in key moments. When she nailed back-to-back long-range efforts, the margin suddenly tightened.
The arm wrestle intensified.
A brief Fever surge forced a timeout as the Mavericks looked momentarily unsettled.
But composure returned through Nelson’s strength under the post and Price’s control through the middle.
At halftime, the scoreboard reflected the tension with a 5-goal difference in the Mavericks' favour.
Whatever was said in the West Coast Fever rooms at half-time worked instantly.
The Fever exploded out of the blocks with a 6–2 run, their defensive pressure lifting dramatically.
Fran Williams produced a beautiful intercept, Kadie-Ann Dehaney’s footwork disrupted every entry, and suddenly the Mavericks looked rushed.
Romelda Aiken-George reasserted herself under the post, while Sasha Glasgow added crucial super shots to erase the deficit.
The 13,847-strong crowd rose with every Fever surge as the home side clawed their way back into the contest.
But just as Fever seized momentum, the Mavericks found their anchor again, Jamie-Lee Price.
A crucial intercept, followed by precise distribution into Reilley Batcheldor, swung the pendulum back.
Kim Brown added a massive defensive rebound, and Amy Parmenter’s pressure forced key errors at critical moments.
Parmenter’s influence was impossible to ignore; she was everywhere, organising, harassing, and lifting her side when the game threatened to slip away.
The quarter became chaotic with intercepts, turnovers, super shots, and momentum swings too fast to track. Palavi’s finishing steadied the Mavericks late, ensuring they edged ahead again at the final break.
At three-quarter time, the Mavericks were still ahead by 3-goals.
With one quarter left, the game was still alive for Fever.
And that final quarter delivered exactly what the occasion demanded: pressure, precision, and pure nerve.
Romelda Aiken-George struck first, narrowing the gap.
Palavi answered immediately, and from that moment she became absolutely pivotal.
She was relentless at the post, and the steady hand the Mavericks built their finish around.
Defensively, Kim Brown and Charlotte Sexton threw everything at Fever’s attack, while Parmenter continued to set the tone, leading like a true captain, controlling tempo, directing pressure, and refusing to let the moment overwhelm her side.
With under three minutes remaining, the margin was just two.
Then came Jamie-Lee Price, feeding Palavi through traffic for another crucial finish.
Fever responded through Glasgow’s super shot, cutting it to one.
The tension was unbearable.
But the Mavericks refused to break.
Palavi delivered again and again; she carried the final quarter, ensuring the scoreboard never slipped away.
Parmenter, meanwhile, was immense in her captain’s role, leading every reset, every defensive stand, every moment of calm in chaos.
Her fingerprints were all over the closing stages. When the final whistle sounded, the Mavericks etched history at RAC Arena, securing their first-ever win at the venue in front of a record crowd and strengthening their push for a finals berth.
