Fire extinguish Flames’ win streak
The Sydney Flames’ three-game win streak is over, after losing 98-73 to the Townsville Fire at the Townsville Entertainment Centre on Wednesday.
Match summary
The hosts scored the first four points of the match before Isabella Brancatisano converted an and-one and Celeste Taylor scored a lay-up. That run was short-lived for the visitors, as the Fire rattled off 12 straight behind Lauren Mansfield and Alicia Froling. A nicely run screen-and-roll by Shaneice Swain and Yemiyah Morris stopped the drought but five quick points by Abbey Ellis made it 23-7 with just under two minutes to play. The Fire’s three-point barrage continued as the hosts led 33-13 at quarter-time, despite a triple as time expired by Swain.
A regular @SwainShaneice moment 😵💫
Keep watching our round eight fixture with Townsville live on ESPN! #BringTheHeat @LASparks pic.twitter.com/bEJKSMYWSt
— Sydney Flames (@TheSydneyFlames) December 18, 2024
The Fire scored the first seven points of the term, as the lead grew to 27. Buckets by Swain and Carla Pitman sparked the Flames in the second. But Shannon Seebohm’s team maintained their hot streak from downtown, landing eight of their first 12. Despite an improved effort in the second, the Fire’s pace – which saw them score 16 fastbreak points – powered them to a 63-28 lead at the main break.
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Swain and Taylor opened the second half with quick buckets. A block and back-to-back triples by the latter helped spark an improved display by the Hoops Capital side. Efforts by Sherrie Calleia and Bonnie Deas ensued, before the Arkansas commit nailed another two triples in quick succession. Despite this and scoring more points in the third than the first and second quarter combined, the Fire led 86-56 at the final change.
Sharp plays by Deas and Pitman ensured the harbour city side’s scoring kept ticking over, as did five quick ones by Swain. Skipper George stayed aggressive, which led to more points off the pick-and-roll with Swain. Although the Flames produced a much-improved effort in the second half, they suffered their fifth loss of WNBL by 25 points.
Where the match was decided
Townsville triumphed thanks to dominant field goal percentage (49-41), rebounds (51-29), assists (23-15), points in the paint (46-34), second-chance points (25-6) and points off turnovers (20-14).
Key moment
A 63-28 first half blew the Flames away and set up the round eight win for the hosts.
Player of the game
Taylor was the Flames top-performer on Wednesday, tallying 15 points, three steals, two rebounds, two assists and two blocks.
Swain also scored 15, while Deas scored a career-high 13 and Pitman added 10.
What’s next
The Flames, who are now 4-5, now return home for their pre-Christmas clash with the Adelaide Lightning on Sunday, December 22, tipping off at 12.15pm AEDT at Quaycentre.
Tickets to the round eight clash, in which the club will celebrate Christmas, are still available here.