Season comes to an end as Magic fall to Flames in nail-biter

Mandurah led the game by 12 points at the start of the final quarter but their offence came to a grinding halt in the period, scoring just eight points as the Flames erased the deficit to finish one-point in front with a 65-64 victory.

The Magic set themselves up for victory in the do-or-die clash with a stunning first half, but were unable to carry the performance across four quarters.

That strong start opened through Taylor Brown in the first quarter, with the import guard tallying seven points in the period to give the Magic something to build on.

By the end of the first Mandurah led by two, but they took their intensity to another level in the second.

Brown pitched in another seven points as she kept her stellar form going, but it was the efforts of Carly Boag that helped buoy the team to some breathing space as the star centre also tallied seven for the period.

Mandurah outscored Rockingham by 10 in the quarter and all of a sudden were up by 12 at half time.

But the Flames responded by leveling the contest in the third.

The Magic struggled to get a bucket to fall and would likely have lost their lead earlier if it wasn't for Kelly Bailey scoring seven points in the opening minutes of the second half.

Her efforts helped Mandurah match it with a determined Flames outfit in the third, and keep their 12-point lead in tact heading into the fourth.

But Madison Allen was on a mission to will the home team back into the thick of things in the final period, as she cut into the Magic's lead early.

The Flames hit free throws to take the lead with three minutes on the clock, before Boag hit a layup to give Mandurah a one-point buffer with two minutes remaining.

Casey Mihovilovich did her best to will the Magic to victory as her clutch three put the side up in the dying stages, but Allen nailed a go-ahead jumper shortly after to effectively put the game on ice.

While deflating, the loss caps a stellar regular season for Mandurah, who went on a nine-game winning run to enter the finals in second spot.