Saturday 7 March 2015 21:11, UK
Team Bath kept their Superleague play-off hopes alive with gritty 45-43 home win against Loughborough Lightning on Friday night.
The 2013 champions were five goals adrift early in the match but battled back to take the lead and close out the win.
In the first quarter, Bath, roared on by 1800 fans at the Sports Training Village, moved into an early 3-1 lead but were pegged back to 3-3 and then went 7-10 and 8-13 behind at the break.
Stacey Francis turn-over provided the platform for Bath to move 23-12 ahead at half-time.
Some superb shooting under pressure saw the home side edge out to a five-goal lead at 36-31 with a minute and thirty seconds to go in the third quarter.
However, with seven minutes to go, the pendulum swung in favour of the visitors who clawed their way back into the match at 39-41 and then 41-43.
At 40-43, the Loughborough goalkeeper was called for contact and that handed Bath the chance to move out to a 41-44 lead.
With the clock ticking down, the home side held their nerve despite an edgy final two minutes in which both sides were penalised multiple times to close out the win.
Coach Jess Thirlby, who stuck to the same seven players throughout, said: "Tonight we showed greater coordination with one another and we stuck to the task. I'm really pleased with the performance.
"It was really positive to build that lead and that last quarter was a reminder that we need to be able to handle pressure."
Bath's next home match is next Friday against Team Northumbria before a televised away fixture against Surrey Storm on Tuesday 17 March.
Loughborough Lightning are back in action against the Yorkshire Jets, live on Sky Sports 1 HD, this Monday at 7.30pm.
