Lynx head into Christmas with huge win
The Perth Lynx celebrated bringing WNBL basketball back to HBF Stadium with a tremendous all-round team performance to make it three straight wins and maintain pace with top spot with the 96-71 win against Geelong United.
It was the first time that the two teams have ever played one another in the WNBL with the first game the league has played at the famous basketball venue which saw the Perth Wildcats win numerous NBL championship too since 1989.
That all made for a memorable Monday night for the Lynx to score the 25-point win and to make it three successive wins and to head into Christmas sitting only marginally behind the league-leading Bendigo Spirit with a 9-3 record.
Where the game was won
The Lynx were able to work on top and continue to wear Geelong down throughout the evening, and continue to build on the lead throughout the evening with the advantage out to as much as 26 points before settling at 25.
It was a 14-0 run in the fourth quarter where the Lynx were able to shut down the United resistance for good. By the end of the contest, the home side had shot 48 per cent from the field with 8/31 from downtown and 16/17 at the foul line.
They ended up taking three fewer field goal attempts than Geelong but 11 extra free throws while forcing United into 21 turnovers from which they were able to score a monstrous 35 points from.
Perth might be renowned as an outside shooting team, but scored 50 points in the paint for the game while also managing 13 second chance points and the depth was on show with the 45 bench points.
Who the standout performers were
The Lynx were back to full strength and all 10 fully rostered players made strong contributions with all of them scoring with co-captain Amy Atwell having her best game of the season with 19 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals on 4/10 three-point shooting.
Fellow co-captain Anneli Maley delivered 14 points, 14 rebounds, two assists and two steals as well with Laeticia Amihere only playing 13 minutes because of foul trouble but still delivering 13 points, seven boards, three blocks and two steals.
Ally Wilson added 12 points, nine assists and five rebounds, Teige Morrell 12 points and five boards, Miela Sowah 10 points and two steals, and Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard six points and three rebounds.
Kiara Waite also had four points, Alex Ciabattoni four points, seven assists, four steals and three rebounds, and Steph Gorman two points to go along with some trademark standout defence.
Keely Froling finished with 17 points and six rebounds for Geelong with Elissa Brett contributing 16 points and five boards, and Haley Jones 16 points and seven rebounds.
How the game panned out
After the two teams traded the game’s first 12 points, Perth made the first break with Laeticia Amihere and Amy Atwell combining for a 5-0 run to put the home team in front 11-6.
Geelong answered with the next five points too before Perth delivered another 10-3 run topped off with a four-point play from Atwell, and from there the Lynx went into quarter-time leading 23-19.
Another 6-0 run from Teige Morell and Miela Sowah early in the second frame helped the Lynx lead out to eight points, and it got to double-figures soon after with Atwell knocking down her third three ball already of the contest.
Ally Wilson then closed the half completing a three-point play for the Lynx to be leading 45-36 despite only going 3/18 from three-point range but being able to score 23 points off the 13 turnovers from Geelong.
Perth blew the margin back out to as much as 14 early in the third quarter as well when Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard landed one from deep to cap off a 7-0 run.
It was still a 13-point ball game by three quarter-time and the margin was 12 when the Lynx put the game to bed once and for all by scoring 14 consecutive points in the fourth quarter to push the lead out to 26 points.
That started with five points from Amihere who had a frustrating evening with the foul trouble before Maley also hit a triple and eventually Perth secured the 25-point victory with Atwell knocking down her fourth three ball of the contest late in the piece.
What’s next for the Lynx
The Lynx will now enjoy Christmas on a three-game winning streak sitting just one win behind the league-leading Bendigo Spirit ahead of hitting the road on Sunday for the last game of 2024 against the bottom placed UC Capitals.
Perth’s first home game of 2025 will be back at HBF Stadium on Sunday January 5 against the revitalised Adelaide Lightning now coached by Adelaide 36ers NBL great Scott Ninnis.