Melbourne have put themselves in prime position to land a prized AFLW top-two spot after fighting out a 10-point win over North Melbourne at Casey Fields.
The Demons led almost all night and their disciplined defence withstood a barrage of pressure from the in-form Kangaroos to prevail 4.3 (27) to 2.5 (17).
Melbourne join leaders Adelaide on 28 points, four ahead of North and third-placed Fremantle, who the Demons play next week.
Karen Paxman was typically brilliant, racking up 28 disposals and a goal and was well-supported by Lily Mithen (27 touches) while Tayla Harris booted two goals and took a wonderful second-quarter hanger.
Kangaroos ball magnet Ashleigh Riddell had 29 touches while Jasmine Garner collected 19 and booted a goal, but Emma Kearney was limited to just 11 touches by Shelley Heath.
North had an early injury scare when Emma King (ankle) hobbled off the ground, though the ruck later returned.
Melbourne's Kate Hore landed the first blow of the match, then Paxman added Melbourne's second after Tahlia Randall gave away a costly 50-metre penalty.
North were ferocious with their pressure around the ball and it finally paid dividends early in the second term when Jasmine Garner snapped brilliantly from a stoppage to put them on the board.
The Dees settled when Aileen Gilroy gave away a 50-metre penalty after mistakenly throwing the ball to her teammate rather than Harris after a free kick.
The gun forward made North pay, steering the ball through the breeze.
Harris received a contentious free kick at the start of the third term and coolly dobbed her second.
Neither team would goal again until Kaitlyn Ashmore set the game alight midway through the final quarter when she ran onto Riddell's searching long kick, burned off Daisy Pearce and slotted a difficult goal.
But between their inefficiency and Melbourne's stern defence, North were unable to capitalise on their 14 final-quarter inside-50s to the Demons' solitary entry.
