Noongar shooter Donnell Wallam said her side wanted to "enjoy our netball" after a tumultuous patch for the Firebirds ahead of upsetting West Coast Fever in front of a home crowd in Brisbane on Saturday.
Wallam was named player of the match after a dominant performance over the finals-bound Fever, shooting for 66-points - including nine super shots, towards the 78-70 win at Nissan Arena.
The Firebirds players and personnel embraced with some tears on the final buzzer on claiming their third win of the season, and first after a fortnight of instability which saw head coach Rebecca Bulley leave amid rumours of player-led angst, and Lauren Brown - who stepped into the job as caretaker from the assistant position, step down after just one game.
Six weeks on from their 36-point loss to the Fever, the Firebirds rallied playing under co-coaches Katie Walker and Roselee Jencke in their first fixture at the helm.
"I'm really emotional. We've had a couple of tough weeks and we just wanted to enjoy our netball...that's what we came out here to do," Wallam said post-match.
"I really wanted to come out here and improve on that performance (from their loss to the Fever in May). And I feel like I did that tonight. So I'm just really happy with that."
Wallam's night got started early, hitting four super shots to claw back a deficit before the first break, and capitalising on Fever defender Kadie-Ann Dehaney's two-minute suspension in the final term and help hold off late efforts from the visitors to claim a major coup.
She ended with 48 goals from 53 regulation attempts, and nine from 14 shooting for the extra point.
With three rounds remaining before finals, Wallam said the Firebirds still have plenty to bring before the end of the season.
"We're just gonna keep building, having fun and hopefully mix up the top of the ladder for those playing finals. We're gonna have fun," Wallam said.
The Firebirds jumped off the bottom of the ladder, and sit two wins shy of the fourth-placed Lightning in seventh on the Super Netball ladder.
