The Giants have notched a two-year first and jumped off the bottom of the Super Netball table thanks to a dominant 78-68 defeat of Sunshine Coast.
The Lightning had beaten the Giants by 18 goals earlier this season but the third-placed side were off the pace at Ken Rosewall Arena on Sunday as the hosts led by as many as 20 in the third term.
A three-quarter time rocket from Lightning coach Belinda Reynolds finally woke her side up, but a 23-15 final term was too little, too late.
It was the first time the Giants have won back-to-back games in two years and saw them jump above the battling Queensland Firebirds and off the bottom of the ladder.
They're now 3-7 and three wins outside the top four with four regular-season games remaining.
"It's amazing. We took so much belief after last week (defeating Adelaide) we wanted to be more consistent and really put our foot on the throat when we are in front," goal attack Sophie Dwyer said.
"We're pretty bad at defending leads. It's great to see us do that and this is just the start of the rest of our season."
Dwyer was awarded player of the match after making 32-of-35 attempts and assisting on 12 of 14 feeds to shooter Jo Harton.
"Jo and I are really happy with our connection last week ... we love playing together and are having so much fun, loving netball at the moment," she said.
Cara Koenen didn't miss last week but was 35-of-41 on Sunday as the Giants applied all sorts of pressure on the Sunshine Coast shooter.
The Lightning (6-4) held onto third spot from the in-form Melbourne Vixens, who they host next week.
Their tough run to the finals pits them against every other team in the top five.
