Fire bounce back from venomous loss to beat Geelong
Sebastian Tan |
The Townsville Fire have exacted WNBL revenge against the Geelong Venom, with Opal Miela Sowah powering the side to a 91-67 victory.
After going down 88-71 to the Venom in one of the upsets of the season on Tuesday, the Fire were a transformed team at the Geelong Arena on Friday.
Townsville, who scored just 35 per cent of their field shots earlier in the week, made 52 per cent of their attempts on Friday, while holding stars Mackenzie Holmes and Shyla Heal to 15 points each. It comes after they grabbed 30 and 25 points respectively on Tuesday.
Sowah was at the centre of the win, scoring 22 points and posting three rebounds to help the side equal the number of wins of the ladder-leading Bendigo Spirit (13-3).
Point guard Abbey Ellis (20 points) and Opal Alex Fowler (13 points, seven rebounds, two blocks) were also instrumental as the Fire improved their record to 13-4.
After being held to no points and three assists earlier in the week, Townsville captain Courtney Woods had 11 points, four assists and three steals.
“We had a much better mindset and a better approach today. The other night was just a bit of a weird game all around,” coach Shannon Seebohm said.
“I’m hoping by (finals) time we’ll be exposed to everything, so hopefully nothing shocks us too much.
“The trick now is to be consistent.”
After snapping a nine-game losing streak on Tuesday, the Venom (4-14) were unable to go back-to-back as they lacked their rigorous ball movement and shooting accuracy (38 per cent of shots made).
American import Alissa Pili and Alex Sharp both returned from illness, scoring four and six points each in limited minutes.
Having not produced a double-digit performance since November, point guard Lilly Rotunno was busy, registering 15 points and four offensive rebounds.
“I’m really disappointed because in the first quarter we shifted the ball, did the things we did the other night,” coach Chris Lucas said.
“Then we sped up and the ball stuck a little bit more. In the second quarter we allowed them to score 34 points.”
There were 15 lead changes in the first quarter as the teams went tit-for-tat, and Geelong led by one point at the first break.
Townsville flicked a switch in the second quarter, going on a 9-0 run as Sowah and Fowler piled on the points to balloon their advantage to 55-37 at halftime.
Tempers flared in the third quarter as Geelong’s Jaz Shelley, Pili and Heal edged closer to fouling out, while Ellis snared 12 points.
The Venom were unable to make inroads into the deficit and Townsville emerged victorious.
Meanwhile, Bendigo’s clash with the Southside Melbourne Flyers, scheduled for later on Friday night, was postponed because of poor air quality from bushfires in Victoria.
AAP
