There was a buzz at the Silverdome as the Hawks and Cripps faced off for a chance to meet the Cavaliers next week and vie for the championship.

The teams came out firing in the first quarter and the on-court intensity remained throughout the 60 minutes, which Hawks coach Kellie Woolnough said was to be expected with the two teams playing for a grand final ticket.

"Both teams wanted it really bad," Woolnough said.

The Hawks got off to a strong start, but defensive pressure from players like Sophie Navickas, Olivia Trench and Ash Probert-Hill forced a number of rushed passes in the middle third, resulting in several turnovers.

The ball moved rapidly up and down the court, with a number of Hawks players telling their teammates to slow down when they had possession.

At half-time Woolnough spoke to the players about being more patient.

"... and obviously pushing the ball into space, away from a defender, which is what we've talked about all year," she said.

When the ball did feed through to the Hawks' goal circle, Cripps captain and goal keeper Alex Vinen was hot on the heels of a dominant Ash Mawer.

But the Hawks goal shooter kept pushing hard to find space and made the most of her opportunities, ending the game with a 94.1 per cent goal-scoring average.

"It was goal-for-goal in the first half and then we started to get a lot more consistent and I thought our feeding away from defenders really improved," Woolnough said.

"Ash Mawer stands up every week for you, so that helped us out as well." Hawks narrowly led by two points at half-time.

Cripps shooters Grace Pullen and Lauren Thornbury had plenty of momentum in the first two quarters, but their goal-scoring average fell away in the second half.

But Pullen and Thornbury were quick to rebound and reattempt, keeping Cripps well and truly in the game.

Stephanie Walker was an asset through the middle for the Hawks, constantly finding space under pressure and swiftly feeding the ball into their goal third.

"Steph Walker plays brilliantly every week, she is one of the most consistent players," Woolnough said.

Goal attack Kendall Jones also worked hard through the middle to get the ball moving freely, providing an extra option for Walker and Lydia Coote.

Defensive pressure from Cripps players Vinen, Trench and Navickas made goal-scoring opportunities difficult, but Mawer and Jones weren't giving up that easy.

Jones spent much of the second half finding space just outside the goal circle and cleverly drawing out a defender, which allowed Mawer more room to grab hold of a high pass beside the net.

"[Cripps] were cunning the whole time, I didn't feel quite comfortable until the last three or four minutes," Woolnough said.

"At one stage, with 10 minutes to go there was eight goals in it. Eight goals is nothing in a game of netball, that can be changed in a couple of minutes.

"We will have a look at today's game and take away as a team what we could've done better which there will be plenty."

Hawks claimed victory over Cripps 55-45, with Mawer scoring 48 of her team's goals.

"Now we focus on the Cavaliers and what we can do to put ourselves in a good position to be extremely competitive and come away with the win," Woolnough said.