It was disappointment for Jhaniele Fowler but joy for Kadie-Ann Dehaney as the Melbourne Vixens edged the West Coast Fever 66-64 to win the 2020 Suncorp Super League Netball title on Sunday.

They say offence wins games but defense wins championships and that proved to be the case at the Nissan Arena where the Vixens limited Fowler to just 55 shots as they eked out a narrow victory in what has been dubbed a classic encounter.

 The Jamaican goal shoot scored 54 shots but it was not enough to overcome the stifling defensive work of the Vixens, who have had success in stopping the league-leading shooter in their two previous wins this season.

Alice Teague-Neeld scored four of five attempts and shot 97 percent from the field against the Vixens for whom Mwai Kumwenda went 47 of 50 and Caitlin Thwaites, a perfect 10 from 10 as the champions scored 60 of their 63 attempts.

The Fever led 16-15 at the end of the first quarter, a lead they held at half-time as both teams scored 17 goals each in the second.

The third quarter proved to be pivotal as the Vixens limited the Fever to just 14 goals while scoring 18 to set up an intense final stanza.

Try as they might, however, the Fever were only able to close the gap to two points outscoring the Vixens 17-16 but it was not enough to secure the title as Alice Teague-Neeld missed a super shot that would have put the Fever in front with one minute to play.

Each team had 14 turnovers and three intercepts. The Vixens managed five rebounds to the Fever’s 4 in what was a very even contest. The Vixens had 56 penalties to the Fever’s 54.