Flames fall short to Melbourne in season opener
The Brydens Sydney Uni Flames have taken their first hit of the season, falling short to the Deakin Melbourne Boomers 85-70 in game one of their WNBL20 campaign in Townsville this evening.
Sydney started strongly and snuck out to a 6-point advantage before the Boomers got going and gained ascendancy on the eve of quarter time, building on their momentum in the second term to lead 43-31 at half time.
Recruit and newly-appointed co-captain Lauren Mansfield (17 points, 6 assists) did a solid job of organising her new side. Lauren Scherf had 10 points on just 3-of-11 shooting plus 7 boards and 2 assists, Ali Schwagmeyer-Belger teamed 9 points with 4 rebounds and 4 assists with guard Funda Nakkasoglu (12 points) showing a glimpse of her potential for the upcoming season.
Flames coach Katrina Hibbert said there were positives to focus on from her side’s first-up performance.
“We scored 70 points and didn’t shoot the ball particularly well. I think it took us almost three quarters to get into the game unfortunately,’’ she said.
“Defensively we’ve talked about being the best defensive team here and I don’t think we showed that tonight, so we need to do a better job with our defensive containment.
“There were lots of positives – first game with a new group, we’ll learn from it and get better for the next one.”
The Flames now turn their attention to the Bendigo Spirit who they face on Saturday at 3.00pm, before backing it up with a second game on Sunday against Southside.
Deakin Melbourne Boomers 85 (Madgen 23, Magbegor 16, Garrick 14)
Brydens Sydney Uni Flames 70 (Mansfield 17, Scherf 10, Schwagmeyer-Belger 7)