Fire escape Perth thriller to cement top spot
Sebastian Tan |
Courtney Woods has provided the fireworks to strengthen the Townsville Fire’s hold on top of the WNBL ladder, as they defeated the razzle-dazzle Perth Lynx 82-76.
Riding high after a thrilling 78-69 HoopsFest win against the UC Capitals last Sunday, the Fire had to back it up against one of the teams inside the congested top three on Tuesday.
The Lynx were overwhelmed by Townsville at first, as they trailed by 17 points in the second quarter, but Perth flexed their defensive muscles in the third quarter to bring themselves back into contention.
In a gripping final period, both teams went tit-for-tat before American Lucy Olsen and Opal Alex Fowler sank crucial baskets to help the Fire escape at the Perth High Performance Centre.
Woods was instrumental, falling just short of recording the competition’s first triple-double of the season (17 points, 13 assists, nine rebounds) while Miela Sowah grabbed 23 points and nine rebounds.
Victory places the Fire (16-4) two wins clear of the Lynx and three wins clear of second-placed Bendigo (13-4), although the Spirit have three games in hand.
“Sometimes we just forget what makes us good, and today, we actually remembered that,” coach Shannon Seebohm said.
“It’s a good step in the right direction. Perth is probably the team to beat right now.”
For the Lynx (14-5), the loss drops them to third on the ladder as they ended a two-game winning streak.
Having bucketed 26 points last Thursday, Ally Wilson registered another 26 points while MVP contender Anneli Maley posted 15 rebounds and two steals.
“We were just soft and passive in the first half,” coach Ryan Petrik said.
“We’d love to have won it, but to beat Bendigo and Townsville in the space of five days is tough.”
Petrik was also sour about a contentious decision after Han Xu copped an elbow to the head in the fourth quarter, but the referees didn’t call a foul.
“I didn’t think it was a play-on, but if the league thinks it’s OK and Shannon thinks it’s OK, then it’s OK,”
Wilson and Sowah hit top gear early, firing 11 points each as Townsville opened up a three-point quarter-time gap.
Woods’ playmaking laced with frenetic rebounding helped the Fire go on an early 14-0 run as they beefed up their advantage to 51-42 at the main break.
Perth pushed the tempo in the third quarter as they held Townsville to nine points and took the lead with 0:02 remaining when Alex Ciabattoni tipped the ball into the net.
Both teams were separated by one score for much of the fourth quarter, but Townsville took advantage of the Lynx’s desperate fouls to seal victory.
AAP
