Townsville Fire advanced to the WNBL semi-finals with a 84-73 win over Bendigo Spirit in their elimination final on Wednesday night.
The Fire will now meet Canberra Capitals at AIS Stadium on Sunday in another sudden-death clash.
The other semi-final between the first-placed Bulleen Boomers and the second-placed Sydney Uni Fires will determine who goes into the grand final and who gets a second chance by playing in the preliminary final.
Bendigo's Kelly Wilson was looking to put her team in the lead early, scoring two three-pointers within the first five minutes of the game at NPA Stadium.
Both teams remained within a few points of each other but the Fire failed to capitalise on an opportunity to go into the second quarter ahead, giving Bendigo a 21-20 lead after the first quarter.
The Fire managed to take the lead in the third minute of the second quarter with Tanya Smith stealing the ball and scoring a basket that gave them a 30-28 lead.
The extended the margin to be 48-43 ahead at the main break.
The Fire's defence slipped in the third quarter allowing Bendigo to get within two points, but they fought hard in the final term to ground out a win.
Fire coach Peter Buckle was delighted with the effort of his side.
"It's a final, it's a great win. Bendigo are a great team," Buckle said.
"It was good to get that win at home. The crowd here is fantastic and that's why we love playing here."
Bendigo coach Bernie Harrower was already looking towards next season.
"We will go away and reassess our group," she said.
"Obviously with the list that we've got, we're very small. We need to get bigger."