The Southside Melbourne Flyers have bounced back emphatically from their Game 1 horror show to square their semi-final series against Townsville Fire 1-1 with a resounding 109-89 victory.
Flyers captain Cayla George paired 32 points with 11 rebounds and Maddy Rocci racked up 23 points and 11 assists without a turnover in the Game 2 boilover at Victoria's State Basketball Centre on Wednesday.
Thumped by 28 points in the series opener on Sunday, Southside racked up a staggering 35 assists to just 10 turnovers on 41 field-goal makes as they manufactured a stunning 48-point turnaround, snapping the regular season champion Fire's eight-game winning streak.
"That was our best game of the season," Flyers coach Kristi Harrower said.
"We responded in a big way and we knew we had to.
"But we know the job's not done yet. We've got to go up to Townsville, which will be tough up there."
Miela Sowah hit six-of-12 three-pointers in a 27-point haul for the Fire, while Alicia Froling added 19 points.
Southside, who conceded the first 17 points in their landslide Game 1 defeat, came out swinging this time, leading 26-20 at quarter-time.
The Flyers handed Haley Peters a surprise start, which proved a masterstroke, her tireless hussle and work on the glass infectious from the opening tip.
Southside's advantage ballooned to 46-31 in the second term, their zone defence suffocating, their offensive rebounding ferocious and their ball movement sublime.
George had 18 points on the board at the main break, while Rocci had already dished seven assists.
Townsville looked completely rattled, before finding some fleeting momentum to trim the halftime margin to 49-43.
Sowah buried four treys in the third period, but the visitors couldn't stop Rocci at the other end as the Flyers stretched their cushion to 82-65 at three-quarter-time, before the procession continued in the fourth.
"We've been probably one of the best, if not the best, defensive teams in the league most of the season ... and tonight we just didn't have it," Fire coach Shannon Seebohm said.
"You could see from the very first three to four minutes we made a lot of mistakes which were very uncharacteristic.
"If we're not going to defend, we're not going to win."
Game 3 will be played at the Townsville Entertainment Centre on Sunday, the winner to face Perth Lynx in the grand final.
