Defense and strategy were the name of this game, as only five out of 37 jams for the bout ran to their two-minute limit. The Belles' Teflon Donna, playing in her second bout since transferring mid-season from the Carolina Roller Girls, scored a game-high 37 points in 12 jams, while Mo Pain contributed 32 points over 12 jams. Among Hustlers' jammers, Barbarella led the way with 33 points in 13 jams and Lady Stardust added 20 points in eight jams. At the pivot position, Texas's Sedonya Face averaged a stellar two points against over the course of her eight jams as pack leader, followed by Sparkle Plenty's average of 2.43 and seven jams. On the Belles, Goldieboxxx shut down her opposition with 2.17 points against in 6 attempts - only slightly better than Rosie Bloodbath's 2.25 over eight jams.

From the outset, it was clear that this would be a close and low-scoring bout. Mo Pain faced off with Barbarella to get things started with a jam that saw Mo gain Lead Jammer status only to call off the action after 41 seconds and a hard hit from Slim Kickins. Barbarella ouscored Mo by a margin of three to two, but the Hustlers' lead would be short-lived. The Liberty Belles took the upper hand two jams later, when a full two-minute session allowed Goldieboxxx to pick up six points, raising her team's total to nine, and the strong blocking of her teammates Dara Licks and Nina Knockout limited Hustlers' jammer Pussy Velour to two for a team-total of seven. The Hustlers turned the tables on Goldie just three jams later, when Barbarella claimed Lead Jammer and truly took advantage of the opportunity it afforded her, scoring seven points in 79 seconds, while hard blocking from The Crusher and Curvette held Goldie scoreless. Down 15-19 at the start of the seventh jam, Mo Pain stopped the see-saw and put the Belles ahead for good with a seven point power-play jam, during which shorthanded Lady Stardust eked out a single point for her team. Thus began a run of 22 jams, extending into the game's third period, during which the Belles outscored the Hustlers 47-23 to lead as many as 20 points. But the Belles knew that the talent and experience of the Hustlers' skaters meant that they can never be counted out.

The game became a defensive battle in the second period, with low-scoring jams throughout: no jammer managed to score more than four points (a mark matched only by Mo Pain, Lady Stardust, and thrice by Teflon Donna) and pack lap totals were equally low. More often than not, both teams' jammers used Lead status to call the jams off quickly, thereby resulting in a 10 of 14 jams in which at least one team was held scoreless - including five occasions on which neither was able to leave the track with so much as a point for their efforts. This did not detract from the game, however: in one crucial jam midway through the period, Mo Pain called off the action at 51 seconds and skated back to her team's bench scoreless and visibly thrilled with herself. Mo had jammed with Honey St. Claire as her one and only blocker, while three of their teammates were forced to look on from the penalty box. With Honey clearing the way, what could have been an opportunity for Texas to take the lead instead became more momentum for Philadelphia, and the team finished off the period by shutting the Hustlers out in seven consecutive jams. At the period's end, the score stood at 57-42 in favor of the Belles.

Starting right where they'd left off, the Belles held the Hustlers scoreless in the first two jams of the third period, during which Mo and Violet Temper added another five points to their team's total. From that time forward, however, the Hustlers looked like a different team entirely. Electra Blu, who pivoted only twice for Texas earlier in the game, wore the striped helmet four times in the final nine jams and saw her team pick up 25 points - to Philadelphia's 15 - in her jams alone. By the end of the period, the tone of the game had changed dramatically from the tense stalemate in which the teams had been locked 20 minutes earlier. In the final jam alone, Sparkle Plenty raked in 12 points to Teflon Donna's eight: the combined 20 points were more than twice the total of any jam in the first two periods of action.

When the dust had settled, the final score of 89 Belles to 79 Hustlers gave the home crowd faith that their Belles can compete with anyone at the national level. Their win streak at five games, Philadelphia now has its eyes on the top spots of the WFTDA's Eastern division and the invitation to Roller Derby's national championships later this year in Austin, Texas - the very same town the Hustlers call home. Are you listening, Austin? Next time, you're hosting!