Maley hits game winner in Canberra for Lynx
Perth Lynx co-captain Anneli Maley hit the game winning shot with less than two seconds remaining as her team continued their impressive start to the WNBL season with the 92-90 road victory over the University of Canberra Capitals.
The Lynx arrived at AIS Arena on Thursday on the back of winning two of their first three matches of the season, but it took until 1.6 seconds on the clock for Maley’s game winning shot to secure the win against the Capitals.
That saw the Lynx claim the two-point victory to now improve to a 3-1 record to start the season with nine days until returning home next Saturday.
Where the game was won
Both teams had their time with the momentum throughout the opening three quarters, but it was the start of the fourth term where the Lynx turned the tide in their favour.
It started with the first six points and turned into a 17-4 run in the opening five minutes including two three-pointers to Miela Sowah, and on the back of that the Lynx were still leading 90-83 with two minutes to play.
The Capitals were able to score seven points over the next minute to tie scores up, but in the end the two biggest plays of the game started with a huge block up one end from Alex Ciabattoni on Nicole Munger.
Then up the other end, Ciabattoni eventually got the ball to Anneli Maley, and with time about to expire she landed the pull up mid-range jumper to give the Lynx the 92-90 lead with 1.6 seconds to go.
Perth held on for the two-point win when Jade Melbourne couldn’t get off a good look out of the timeout at the buzzer for the Caps.
Who the standout performers were
Canadian Olympian and Atlanta Dream WNBA player Laeticia Amihere continues to fit right in early in her first taste of playing in the WNBL and she delivered 24 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and two blocks on 10/12 shooting in the win for the Lynx.
The recently married Miela Sowah continued her standout form to start the season helping pick up the slack in the absence of Amy Atwell with another 18 points, three rebounds and two assists on 4/8 three-point shooting.
Ally Wilson also finished with 11 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals with Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard contributing 11 points, six boards and four assists, and Steph Gorman nine points and three rebounds on making three triples.
The contributions continued with Alex Ciabbatoni finishing with eight points, five assists, four rebounds and two blocks, Anneli Maley seven points, 10 boards and three assists, and Teige Morrell four points on 2/2 shooting in 10 minutes.
On the back of her time in between WNBL seasons playing both in the WNBA and at Paris 2024, Jade Melbourne had another standout performance for the Capitals with 20 points, eight assists and three rebounds.
Nyadiew Puoch also had 20 points, five rebounds and three assists with Chantel Horvat contributing 13 points, four boards and three steals, and Christy Collier 10 points and 12 rebounds.
How the game panned out
Miela Sowah did open the game’s scoring for the Lynx but the Capitals responded with the next six points before Sowah hit back for the visitors with a three ball.
The Caps did maintain an advantage for the majority of the quarter and were up 21-14 heading towards quarter-time, but then the Lynx responded with a big finish to the term closing it out with a 13-4 run.
That included three balls to Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard, Anneli Maley and Ally Wilson which saw Perth go into the quarter-time break with the narrow 27-25 advantage.
It was Canberra’s turn to start the better in the second quarter too with a 7-3 run before the Lynx responded with the next nine points that began with a three-point bomb from Steph Gorman.
Perth remained in control most of the rest of the half including leading by six still with just over two minutes to play, but then the Capitals closed it out by scoring the last 10 points to end up with their own 51-47 advantage at the interval.
Just as the Caps did push their lead out to nine points late in the third quarter, the Lynx responded with a pair of three-pointers to Gorman and that helped keep the three quarter-time deficit at just four.
The Lynx then made a hot start to the fourth quarter with the opening six points including another three-point dagger from Sowah.
Perth continued with that momentum with another nine straight points that included Sowah knocking down her fourth three ball of the game with the lead out to nine with just under five minutes to play.
The lead was still seven with two minutes to go but the Caps were able to then score seven straight points and suddenly the scores were tied with a minute to go when Nicole Munger hit a three-pointer.
In the end it came down to the last possession for the Lynx and after the Caps played some strong defence on Alex Ciabattoni, she was able to get the ball to Maley who knocked down the mid-range jumper with 1.6 seconds on the clock to win the game for Perth on the road.
What’s next for the Lynx
After a hectic start to the season with four games over the past two weeks now with the three wins on the board, the Lynx have nine days until a string of two home games at the Bendat Basketball Centre.
First up is a match up against the Sydney Flames on Saturday November 23 before then hosting the Townsville Fire once again on the Wednesday night.
CYGNETT WNBL SEASON 2024/25
PERTH LYNX 92 (Amihere 24, Sowah 18, Clinch Hoycard 11, Wilson 11)
UNIVERSITY OF CANBERRA CAPITALS 90 (Melbourne 20, Puoch 20, Horvat 13)