Lynx dominate first road game of season
The Perth Lynx used their energy and depth to great effect to score a second win inside seven days to open the WNBL season with the emphatic 92-78 road victory against the Adelaide Lightning.
The Lynx opened the season with two home games at Bendat Basketball Centre against the Southside Flyers and Townsville Fire with a win and a loss without co-captain Amy Atwell who was again out on Saturday night at the Adelaide 36ers Arena.
Perth then had to overcome a slow start against the Lightning but soon took over the contest with a host of strong contributions for the eventual 14-point victory.
Where the game was won
The Lynx had to fight back from Adelaide starting 10-2 with the Lynx back within three points by quarter-time and then putting up 28 points to 18 in the second quarter to lead at half-time 53-46 with 56 per cent field goal shooting and going 10/12 at the foul line without sending the Lightning there once.
Adelaide were still hanging around to be down just seven at three quarter-time, but the Lynx put the game to bed early in the fourth quarter with a 10-3 run on the way to the eventual 14-point victory.
Perth ended up shooting 48 per cent from the field for the game and while only shooting 8/27 from three-point range, the Lynx did have 22 points from the Lightning’s turnovers and pushed the pace for 18 fast break points.
The Lynx also scored 16 second chance points from the 14 offensive rebounds and managed to control the contest for most of the last 35 minutes while still having 16 turnovers for the game and not shooting the ball as well as they might normally hope to.
Who the standout performers were
Lynx co-captain Anneli Maley put in another 32 minutes of a power of work to finish the game with 18 points, 12 rebounds, four steals and two assists on 6/12 shooting from the field, 2/4 from downtown and 4/5 at the foul line.
Laeticia Amihere continued to find her feet well in the WNBL with another 17 points and three rebounds on 7/11 shooting with Alex Ciabattoni coming up big for 15 points, five boards and four assists.
Miela Sowah delivered another 13 points and three rebounds with Ally Wilson contributing 11 points, nine boards, six assists, two steals and two blocks, Steph Gorman nine points and five rebounds, Teige Morrell six points and six boards, and Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard three points.
Izzy Borlase put up 24 points for Adelaide with Issie Bourne contributing 21 points, and Japreece Dean 16 points.
How the game panned out
The Lightning were playing their first home game of the season and got off to the fast start racing to a 10-2 lead with Alex Ciabattoni steadying things for the Lynx with four straight points as she scored the team’s first six of the game.
The hot start for Adelaide did continue as they opened up the 20-10 lead but the Lynx responded strongly with the next six points including four of them from Laeticia Amihere.
Perth built momentum from that to close the first quarter scoring 25 of the last 33 points to cut the Lightning lead to 28-25 after one with Amihere putting up 11 points for the Lynx.
The Lynx then assumed the lead early in the second quarter thanks to seven straight points including a three-pointer from Anneli Maley before then going on another 6-0 scoring run.
Another run of seven consecutive points starting with a three-point play from Ciabattoni helped the Lynx to a nine-point lead before the last four points of the half to Ally Wilson again after pulling off another steal to give the visitors the 53-46 advantage.
Back-to-back three balls from Steph Gorman and Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard saw the Lynx’s lead out to 12 points in the third quarter and they were still on top 71-64 by three quarter-time.
Perth came out with the first five points of the fourth quarter too and the lead was back out to 12, which soon became 14 when Gorman landed another from downtown and from there the Lynx would score the 14-point victory.
What’s next for the Lynx
The Lynx remain on the road to play in Canberra against the UC Capitals now on Thursday night before returning home to host the Sydney Flames at the Bendat Basketball Centre on Saturday November 23.
CYGNETT WNBL SEASON 2024/25
PERTH LYNX 92 (Maley 22, Wilson 17, Sowah 16)
ADELAIDE LIGHTNING 78 (Maley 18, Amihere 17, Ciabattoni 15)