BEC Bulley and her Giants teammates have come up short of a historic Super Netball championship against the Sunshine Coast Lightning.
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The Lightning won the inaugural championship 65-48 in Brisbane on Saturday night.
Former Sandhurst and Calivil United netballer Bulley and defensive teammate Sam Poolman were instrumental in the Giants' bright start, effectively blocking the path to star Lightning goal shooter Bassett as the Giants ran out to an 8-3 lead.
But the Lightning were able to reduce the league to just two goals at the first break, before taking control early in the second quarter on a 10-3 run.
Their win was never in doubt after building a 10 goal lead at quarter time.
Goal shooter Bassett was the star for the Lightning, sinking 48 goals from 50 shots.
Giants skipper Jo Harden said the defensive pressure of the Lightning was a key to their victory.
"They had a really good defensive game against us tonight - especially in the second quarter - and when they grasped that lead it was just too hard to get it back," she said.
"They put pressure on us, me to shoot longer than I have been and more pressure on the ball into KB.
"That really told in the end. It's about retaining composure and we didn't do that well enough."
Goal defence Bulley, who made a comeback to elite netball this year after retiring following the Diamonds world championship win in 2015, was attempting her fourth championship win.
It's the third straight year the Brisbane Entertainment Centre arena has witnessed a Queensland grand final triumph after the Firebirds' back-to-back wins in the former ANZ Championship.
