Milestone player Nicole Ferguson celebrated her 100^th game in style as the Tigers re-emerged as a finals contender.

Tigers mentor Cloe Pulling spoke to her side about the importance of the must-win game prior to stepping onto the court.

“We had a little bit of extra motivation in that we wanted Nicole’s game to be memorable,” she said.

“We spoke about the importance of winning to keep our finals hopes alive.

“I think it was even more important because the competition is even this year, and there’s really not that much difference between the top eight sides.”

Pulling felt Merrivale was beginning to play successfully as a team and praised its persistence.

“It’s a funny thing to say but I think we’re really jelling now,” she said.

“It really felt like a team game on the weekend because we didn’t really have any stand-out contributors. 

“Nobody let the team down.”