WNBL 2020 RD 3 GAME 1 RESULTS
An 8-28 first quarter saw the Lightning beaten out of the blocks by the Melbourne Boomers where playing catch-up proved to be too much. Despite the slow start there were still some great moments for the Adelaide Lightning, read our match report here and some after match thoughts from Louella Tomlinson…
The Melbourne Boomers blitzed the Lightning out of the blocks 8-28 to set up a big win of 40 points over the Adelaide Lightning 91-51. Tess Madgen set up the game with 14 points in the first half to finish with 16 points and 5 assists along with Cayla George who had a huge double of 16 points and 15 rebounds and a game high +/- of 32. For the Lightning Alex Wilson led the way with 13 points and 4 rebounds but it was a lean night on the stats sheet for the South Australians.
THE WRAP Q BY Q
The Boomers started with an 8-0 run before Wehrung dropped her first score since Game One. Talbot tried to get Lightning going at both ends with attack on the rim and a block but the Boomers frontcourt of George and Madgen were having none of it. Whittle came into the game to inject some much-needed defensive presence, but the girls trailed 28-8 at the end of the first quarter.
Louella Tomlinson started the quarter positively with a nice pass inside to Talbot followed up by a Wehrung triple. A couple of offensive fouls in a row stalled the momentum before the Lightning jumped into a 3-10 run led by Talbot, a Wilson triple and Chelsea Brook. Madgen hit back with a triple followed by Karaitiana and the Boomers from outside looked like they could not miss. Wilson hit another triple before coming up with a defensive play taking the charge trying to lift her side against the blitzing Boomers. The telling statistic at half time though was the offensive rebound tally as the Lightning gave up 3-10 and 2-19 in second chance points and despite the fighting second quarter, the Lightning still trailed 53-28 at the long break. Maddie Garrick was also having a big influence in the contest with 13 points to half-time leading a 40 percent triple shooting show and 57 percent from the field in the half.
The Lightning came out with a much more up-tempo defensive set after half-time and created some opportunities we could not finish, eventually broken by Taylor Ortlepp’s triple. The Boomers continued to grab the odd baskets here and there with Kalani Purcell starting to hit the scoreboard for the Boomers off the bench but a positive finish to the 14-12 quarter saw Morgan Yaeger score her first WNBL points of the season with a lovely wrap around move. The Boomers are still in charge with a big margin heading into the last quarter 67-40.
Chelsea Brook attacked the last quarter with enthusiasm starting with a couple of baskets while Wilson made a tough move baseline to keep her solid night going with the remainder of the last quarter giving Lucas the chance to run some of the girls back into match touch with the Boomers doing the same. The Boomers dropped multiple triples in the last quarter to eventually push the margin out to 91-51 in the finish.
The Boomers finished the game with 55-30 in rebounds including 20-8 offensive, 23-10 assists and a field goal percentage of 40.
THE MOMENTS LIGHTNING STRUCK
– In the third quarter the Lightning struck back with a 14-12 quarter
– The Lightning upped their shooting percentage by 20 percent in the third quarter
– They limited the Boomers to 2 second chance points after half-time
THE PLAYERS VIEW
The Lightning were disappointed after the break they did not come out of the blocks as aggressively as the Boomers. “It was a very tough loss for us to lose the way we did, it was good to get the loss out the way but the Boomers were the aggressor tonight and got us on the offensive rebounds,” Louella Tomlinson told the Lightning Press.
Tomlinson did say that Wilson got the girls going in the second quarter lifting her intensity and aggression at both ends of the floor, but the team overall needed to move the ball more as reflected in the assist count. “Chris (Lucas) spoke to us about the fact that we only had 10 assists, for us to win we are going to have to play more as a team. Our ball movement and knowing what we are in affected that count the most tonight,” Tomlinson reflected on the loss.
WHEN THE NEXT STRIKE COMES
The Lightning had a game where the statistics were a good indicator of how the game was lost and with a quick back-up tomorrow against the Spirit, there is not much time to dwell on the result. “We need to do to Bendigo tomorrow what the Boomers did to us tonight and be the aggressor.” Tomlinson summed up the night ahead of their next game tomorrow night.
Considering the circumstances Lightning have faced and what we saw after quarter time, in the court of ball; we think that they should have a right of reply and we will get to see that tomorrow night against our rivals.
MELBOURNE BOOMERS 91 (George, Madgen 16, Garrick 15, Magbegor 11, Karaitiana 9, Purcell, Davidson 8) DEFEATED ADELAIDE LIGHTNING (Wilson 13, Talbot 12, Brook 9) at Townsville Stadium