Match Report: Vixens prevail in top of the table clash

Round 10 wrap
1 year ago

We claimed our second win in four days in style with a clinical performance against West Coast Fever at RAC Arena on Tuesday night (70-64).

The road win sees us take outright top spot on the ladder, sitting a game clear of second-placed Fever.

Getting the start at goal keeper, Olivia Lewis got busy in the opening minutes disrupting the attacking play of Jhaniele Fowler and creating a wealth of intercepts and deflections.

Down the other end, Mwai Kumwenda (45 from 46) picked up where she left off, dominating under the post against Courtney Bruce. We quickly established a nine-goal lead with Hannah Mundy putting in the hard yards at wing attack.

We kept the momentum going in the second term stretching out to an 11-goal buffer. Starting in wing defence, Kate Moloney did not falter against Chelsea Pitman who took the court in place of Alice Teague-Neeld. West Coast slowly worked their way back into the match thanks to Bruce and Sunday Aryang collecting turnover ball. Fowler got things moving in attack, but we steadied and held onto our eight-goal margin.

The injection of Emily Mannix in the third term worked wonders with the goal defence combatting the work of Sasha Glasgow out the front. Player of the match Liz Watson (53 feeds) was a workhorse through the centre with her give and go opening up the attacking third. The handy work of Glasgow in the super shot period got Fever back within five at the final break.

With the game on the line Kiera Austin and Kumwenda knuckled down in attack to extend the lead back out to eight goals. Fever mounted another comeback before Austin collected a well-timed deflection to help us forge ahead. The intensity lifted a notch with consecutive super shots from Glasgow giving the Fever a sniff, but it was too little, too late as we drove it home to claim our eighth win of the year.

Head coach Simone McKinnis was more than impressed with her side’s efforts to seal the deal against a tough opponent on the road.

“We came over here determined to win the game. It’s one of the toughest road trips and we’re doing it in the middle of a condensed season, so to show how tough we are as a team and to get the job done was really pleasing,’ she said.

“I loved our start, I loved our ball movement and the crispness and speed of ball movement we brought. Defensively the pressure and just having a go at the ball, I just loved that.”

We’re backing it up again for Round 11 in four days’ time, taking on NSW Swifts at John Cain Arena in the decider for the Sargeant-McKinnis Cup on Saturday 21 May. Tickets are available now via Ticketek.

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