The Sturt Sabres faced a must-win situation at Hillcrest as their finals hopes were on the line but came up short against the North Adelaide Rockets, going down 83-69 on Saturday night.

The Sabres started the game strong as they took it to the defending champs in the first quarter. Sturt's Amy Shaw (22 points, seven rebounds, three assists) was brilliant in the opening 10 minutes. Shaw took on the entire North defence on her way to the hoop and scored on them more often than not. Whether it was crafty layups or drawing a foul and getting to the line, Shaw led the way in the first and capped it off with a triple to beat the buzzer for 12 points in the quarter.

North were able to limit Shaw in the second quarter as both teams traded baskets and the lead. The Sabres were able to find other avenues of scoring with Jess McPhail (13 points, six rebounds) and Hannah Richards (seven points, three rebounds) keeping the scoreboard ticking. Shannon McKay (18 points, five rebounds, three steals) and Kirsty Williams (13 points, five rebounds) got the Rocket's offence going as the home side were able to tie the game at half time.

A 10-0 run to close the third quarter gave North the momentum to take control of the game. Jamie-Lee Peris (15 points, 10 rebounds) was everywhere during the run, grabbing offensive rebounds and getting to the line to increase the lead. Lauren Badenoch (seven points, six assists) connected on a pair of shots while Jo Hill (12 points, 16 rebounds) was superb throughout the quarter.

The Rockets kept the pressure up to hold onto their lead. Sturt had a number of costly turnovers and gave up too many offensive rebounds to be able to make a comeback. Coupled with the fact that they failed to find the net consistently led to their defeat.

The Rockets will host the qualifying final next week and enjoy the safety of a double chance through the finals while the Sabre's season comes to an end.