Sunshine Coast Lightning have kept their Super Netball finals hopes alive after notching a clinical 74-54 victory over the bottom-ranked Giants at UniSC Arena.
Indigenous spearhead Donnell Wallam was the star in the First Nations Round clash on Saturday, pairing 45 goals with eight rebounds.
Meanwhile, Liz Watson was industrious in the centre and Ash Ervin super-active in defence for the fifth-ranked Lightning (5-7), who are knocking on the door of the top four.
"Really happy with that," Wallam said.
"I really love this round. It (player of the match award) could have gone to any one of us, we played so well as a team.
"We're just really happy that we're keeping our season alive.''
The Giants (0-12) struggled in all departments, missing gettable shots, coughing up 24 turnovers and racking up a staggering 89 penalties - just two short of the competition's unwanted all-time record.
The visitors started well enough, though, pressing their way to a surprise 3-0 head-start.
The Giants still led 9-8 midway through the opening term before Wallam peeled off the next nine goals to put Sunshine Coast in total control for good.
The error-riddled Giants conceded eight turnovers for the quarter, at the end of which the Lightning held sway 18-14.
Sunshine Coast went up another notch in the second period, which they dominated 22-9 to pull clear 40-23 at halftime.
Giants shooter Matisse Letherbarrow, who buried all 12 attempts in the first term, lost her radar in the second, missing six of her 10 shots.
The Giants showed better signs after the main break but continued to have no answers for Wallam and Watson as the Lightning marched to a 57-35 three-quarter-time buffer.
Sunshine Coast were afforded the luxury of resting Wallam and Watson down the stretch, giving Gabrielle Sinclair and Cara Koenen the opportunity to thrive in the circle.
To their credit, the struggling Giants won that last stanza 19-17, but the result was already a foregone conclusion.
