Perth Lynx Preview – Away to Sydney Flames
The Perth Lynx have a swift turnaround from playing at home on Thursday night to now taking on the Sydney Flames on the road on Saturday as Round 6 in the WNBL continues.
The Lynx came into Thursday night’s top-of-the-table clash at Bendat Basketball Centre with the undefeated Bendigo Spirit on a five-game winning streak.
With first position going on the line, it turned into a defensive grind with neither team able to find much of an offensive groove, but it was a fascinating contest all the same with Bendigo ending up winning 72-66.
That leaves Perth still in second position on the WNBL table with a 6-2 record as they now head to Sydney to take on the Flames on Saturday evening in the second meeting of the season between the two teams.
Last time they met was at Bendat Basketball Centre where the Lynx beat the Flames 84-78 in a tight affair on November 23 with Laeticia Amihere ultimately the difference as she delivered 28 points, four assists, four rebounds and four blocks for Perth.
In the couple of weeks since then, the Lynx beat the last two WNBL champions the Townsville Fire and Southside Flyers on either side of the country before Thursday night’s narrow loss at home to the Spirit.
Sydney, meanwhile, bounced back after that loss in Perth to beat Geelong United by 35 points at home in their lone game since with Shaneice Swain again outstanding with 25 points and five assists.
That means that coming into the Saturday evening contest the Lynx are sitting in second position on the WNBL standings with a 6-2 record while the Flames are fifth at 2-4.
Coming into the contest and Perth has won seven of the past eight meetings between the two teams too with the lone loss over that stretch coming late in the 2023/24 campaign even with Sydney missing finals and the Lynx ending up in the Grand Final.
Those wins for the Lynx against the Flames have come at an average winning margin of 15.7 points, but coach Ryan Petrik is looking for a more Perth-style performance after the grind that was Thursday night’s game with Bendigo.
“It was a defensive scrap for two of the best offensive teams and I thought they were really good, and deserved to win,” Petrik said.
“I think if you play that game 100 times, it might be 60-40, 50-50 or whatever it is, and I was much more disappointed how we played against Townsville the first time and I think they win that game 100 times out of 100.
“I think this game could have gone either way largely and we were just on the wrong side of the score at the end, and Bendigo were really good.”
Miela Sowah continued her career-best form on Thursday night despite the loss for the Lynx with another 25 points, six rebounds and five assists, but she expects a more composed performance from her team against the Flames.
“It is the No. 1 team we were playing and they were undefeated so I think we wanted to have a good start and wanted to come out of the gates,” Sowah said.
“Sometimes as an athlete you get nervous so I think that’s something that we can probably clean up because I think starts are super important. But I think we did turn it around halfway through the first and started to get going into our normal style of play.”
Saturday night will also provide a chance for Sowah to catch up with her sister, Briana Goodchild, who will be on the microphone for the Flames, but in the bigger picture she is delighted with the faith from Petrik to trust her to play such a big role on this Perth team.
“A lot of the credit goes to Ryan and the style of play fits into my game, and Ryan gives all of us confidence to play our game and knock down our shots,” Sowah added.
“I’m just trying to get better each game and I watch them back, and make sure I can improve but it also helps when you have every player on our team who is a threat. So when it’s like that you have to pick your poison so that helps me as well.”
CYGNETT WNBL SEASON 2024/25
Round 6 – Perth Lynx v Sydney Flames
Venue – Quaycentre
Tip-off – Saturday December 7, 4.30pm AWST
How to watch – Live, free and on demand on 9Now