Perth stun Townsville to make WNBL statement
Sebastian Tan |
The Perth Lynx have delivered a statement performance to their WNBL rivals, edging past title fancies the Townsville Fire 97-81.
In a game between the league’s two heavyweights, the match lived up to expectations as both teams went tit for tat in the first half at the Townsville Entertainment Centre on Sunday.
The Fire looked to have manufactured a healthy eight-point lead in the third quarter, but Perth refused to let them blow out their advantage.
Crucially, Lynx guard Ally Wilson suffered a blow to the face midway through the quarter and Townsville was not penalised.
Moments later, Perth went on a game-defining 25-2 spurt.
“What’s the word we should use that’s PG? That annoyed the playing group a little bit how that played out,” coach Ryan Petrik said.
“We warned our girls, you’ve got to play through it. I’ll deal with the refs.”
Star import Han Xu was at the centre of the win, registering a double-double with 28 points, 13 rebounds, and four blocks, while Alex Ciabattoni posted 21 points.
The Lynx now move one win behind the second-placed Fire, improving their record to 8-3.
“Happy to have won it, but it’s a random regular-season game in December,” Petrik said.
“We’re just trying to make the finals right now. We’re on eight wins, and we’re going to need to win another four or five minimum.”
For Townsville (9-2), they ended their seven-game winning streak as the side slipped to second with the Bendigo Spirit (10-2) now on top.
The Fire conceded the most points since the Lynx beat them 106-80 in November 2024, as Perth dominated the rebound count, winning 47-34.
Sharp-shooter Miela Sowah (17 points) worked the floor yet again, while Alex Fowler had 17 points and seven rebounds.
Townsville also welcomed back Chantel Horvat after she missed the past two weeks with a finger injury. She had four points in six minutes.
“It’s a reality check for sure. The mistakes and breakdowns that we’ve had in probably the last month … all got highlighted big time today,” Fire coach Shannon Seebohm said.
“We got pushed out of our stuff. We got rattled.”
Both teams mixed style with substance early, moving the ball sharply and turning rigid defence into clinical attack as Townsville took a one-point lead at quarter-time.
In a see-sawing second quarter, the Fire went on a 9-3 run before Han and Anneli Maley stepped up to level the scores at 49-all at halftime.
Townsville came out in the third quarter with a spring in their step, firing the first 10 points before Perth surged again to finish the term leading by six.
The Lynx continued to up the ante on Townsville, bucketing 23 to 13 final quarter points to seal the win.
AAP
