Perth Lynx Preview – Home to Townsville Fire
The Perth Lynx offered an exciting glimpse into the basketball they want to play this WNBL season with the chance to now showcase it once more against the Townsville Fire also on their home floor on Wednesday night.
The Lynx opened the 2024/25 WNBL season in scintillating fashion on Saturday night also at Bendat Basketball Centre in a Grand Final rematch against the Southside Flyers even without the services of Olympian and WNBA sharpshooting co-captain Amy Atwell.
The Lynx shot out of the blocks with 31 points in the first quarter and then eventually opened up a lead as big as 31 points throughout the evening on the way to the 94-79 victory.
There was plenty to like in the performance from the Lynx as they ended up shooting 52 per cent from the field, knocked down 12/29 from three-point range and managed to overcome the 19 turnovers to still score the commanding win.
The Lynx finished with four players scoring in double-figures and eight in total scoring at least five led by 22 points and 12 rebounds from co-captain Anneli Maley, 17 points and eight assists from Ally Wilson, 16 points from the recently married Miela Sowah (nee Goodchild) and 12 points and four assists from Alex Ciabattoni.
Now the Lynx remain at home to be back at Bendat Basketball Centre this Wednesday night up against a Townsville team who also started their season mighty impressively with the 84-58 win on the road to Geelong United last Wednesday night.
In that win for the Fire, Alicia Froling put up 17 points and nine rebounds with Zia Cooke adding 15 points and three boards, Courtney Woods 12 points and three rebounds, and Lauren Cox 12 points, six boards and four assists.
That sees both teams come into Wednesday night’s match up full of confidence and momentum on the back of statement first up victories as they renew their rivalry from the past two finals series.
Back in WNBL22 and Townsville eliminated Perth in the semi finals on the way to winning the championship before the Lynx beat the Fire in the rematch last season on the way to making the Grand Final.
Lynx coach Ryan Petrik liked a lot of what he saw on Saturday night from his team and hopes they continue to play with that freedom that he’s happy to give his players provided they stick to some guidelines.
“The best part was the nature of playing that aggressive and not even thinking about it. There’s going to be a couple of nights where it’s not going to work, but we just want them to go and get it on our terms,” Petrik said.
“We don’t want to put too much into their heads because it will slow them down. We try to play to principles and that means they can just play on instinct and we just give them some guidelines, but really we just want to let them hoop.
“They are pretty smart and intelligent, and they can all shoot so that spaces the floor. So if you play to some principles and let their talent take over, I don’t know how you guard it and it’s our offence so good luck.”
One new arrival at the Lynx is Ally Wilson who had a blistering first half on Saturday night and is already beaming with excitement about what her first season is going to be like.
“It was super fun out there and I couldn’t wait to get out there and play after training for six weeks. We were looking forward to this game and I think it showed just how much fun and how exciting the brand of basketball here,” Wilson said.
“I’d always admired the way the Lynx have played in my time in the WNBL and I think it suits me down to the ground as a player.
“It sort of lets me off the leash a little bit and I’ve played in systems where it’s a bit more controlled, and as a point guard you try to run the play to get certain shots.
“But here, if you’re open we want you to make the play that you see and that’s been super exciting for me, and that’s really fun.”
CYGNETT WNBL SEASON 2024/25
Round 2 – Perth Lynx v Townsville Fire
Venue – Bendat Basketball Centre
Tip-off – Wednesday November 6, 6.30pm AWST
Tickets – Available by clicking here
How to watch – Live on ESPN