Game day preview

BENDIGO BATTLE

The JCU Townsville Fire will secure first spot on the ladder and the opportunity to host the WNBL grand final series with a victory over Bendigo tonight. The Fire will be chasing an eleventh successive win but Coach Shannon Seebohm wants the players to be process driven rather than focus on continuing their streak.

“We’re going to give it everything we’ve got, and I think it’s important to not think about the outcome. We need to take each possession, each quarter as they come and then hopefully put together a really good game, and the result is a win.”

The hosts have tumbled out of the playoff positions on the back of five consecutive defeats, but they can still finish in the top four if they win and the Lynx lose against Adelaide and Canberra.

“Bendigo are fighting for their lives so they’re going to be desperate. They’re going to play really hard and you know we need to do the same.”

Townsville got revenge for a narrow loss to Bendigo early in the season, with a dominant display in round 14. Seebohm doesn’t anticipate another blowout at on the road especially with Kelsey Griffin back in the home side’s line up, after her injury lay off.

“She’s obviously one of the best players in the competition and Kennedy’s a great coach, so I’m sure they’ll make some adjustments from last time we played and we need to do the same. You know make sure we’re a little bit better defensively than we were the other week, and if so, I think we’ll be in good shape.”

Catch the action on ESPN  5.30pm Qld time, or follow the score updates on the JCU Fire’s social media pages.