Hot shooting Lynx blow away Fire
A stunning shooting display has helped the Perth Lynx to a fifth win in six games to open the WNBL season after Wednesday night’s 106-80 thumping home win against the Townsville Fire.
The two teams had already played three weeks earlier also at Bendat Basketball Centre with Townsville scoring the 84-80 victory, but it was a much different story on Wednesday night back in the same venue.
On the back of winning three straight since then, the Lynx kept the momentum going knocking down a remarkable 16/23 from three-point territory to lead by as much as 31 points and to win by 26 in the finish to improve to a 5-1 record.
Where the game was won
It was the shooting performance all evening from the Lynx that made them unstoppable as they put up the highest score of any team this WNBL season so far at 106 points.
The Lynx ended up shooting 61.9 per cent from the field for the game along with a stunning 16/23 from three-point territory at 69.6 per cent and even shooting well at the free-throw line at 12/14 for 85.7 per cent.
Townsville’s offensive numbers weren’t even that bad going 40 per cent from the field, 39 from three and 85 at the charity stripe including attempting 12 extra field goals for the contest.
The Lynx also won the rebound count 40 to 30 after being badly beaten in that area in the first game against Townsville this season.
Who the standout performers were
While the Lynx made 16 three-pointers for the game, one player who didn’t make one on just one attempt was Miela Sowah but she had a huge impact still with 20 points, five assists and four rebounds on 6/8 shooting and 8/8 from the foul line.
Teige Morrell did make her one three-point attempt on her way to 14 points and four rebounds while co-captain Anneli Maley made all her threes in the third quarter for 14 points and nine rebounds.
Ally Wilson also finished with 11 points and two assists while Laeticia Amihere contributed 10 points and three rebounds, Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard 10 points, four boards and three assists, Steph Gorman nine points and five assists, and Alex Ciabattoni nine points and six assists.
Then there was 17-year-old Kiara Waite who scored her first WNBL points and finished with nine for the game including two three-pointers and an and-one play.
Alicia Froling finished with 22 points, six rebounds, four assists and two blocks for the Fire with Zia Cooke adding 14 points.
How the game panned out
The Lynx went on an early 9-0 scoring run to open up a 13-4 advantage with the last seven of those courtesy of Laeticia Amihere including her second three-point make of the season and then converting an and-one play.
Townsville did hit back with a 13-6 run of their own but it was Perth still on top 21-17 at the end of one despite 13 of the Fire’s 17 points coming from Alicia Froling.
Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard opened up the second quarter with a three-pointer and by the time she hit another minutes later the lead was out to nine for the Lynx.
That soon became 12 thanks to a second triple of the game to Amihere and then was 15 following another from downtown to Ally Wilson, and a couple of driving baskets to Miela Sowah.
Development player Kiara Waite then came on for quite the cameo for the first six points of her WNBL career with a three-pointer following by a three-point play, and by half-time the Lynx were in control at 54-40.
Perth made the ideal start to the second half too with a three ball to Maley before they were able to blow the game open beginning with Alex Ciabattoni hitting from deep after the offensive rebound to Sowah.
Maley then knocked down two more from behind the arc to have the lead at 20 midway through the third frame. She wasn’t done and hit another to start off an 11-0 run that saw the Perth lead balloon to 30, and it was still 28 by three quarter-time.
The lead for the Lynx got out to as much as 31 points in the final quarter as well after another left-handed make in the block from Teige Morrell before the game settled on an eventual 26-point margin.
What’s next for the Lynx
The Lynx are next in action in Melbourne against the Southside Flyers on Sunday before being back home next Thursday night to host the currently undefeated Bendigo Spirit at Bendat Basketball Centre.
CYGNETT WNBL SEASON 2024/25
PERTH LYNX 106 (Sowah 20, Maley 14, Morrell 14)
TOWNSVILLE FIRE 80 (Froling 22, Cooke 14, Shiels 9, Fowler 9)