Match Report | Vixens vs GIANTS

Celebrating Kids Round, the home crowd was well and truly behind the Vixens, lifting the roof in both excitement and decibels to welcome the team back home to JCA.

Sophie Garbin is looking right at home in the navy blue and was outstanding as player of the match. If shooting 51 goals at 93% accuracy wasn’t enough, two gains, two intercepts and one deflection proves she’s a fighter for her new club.

Hannah Mundy. Need we say more? The 22-year-old continues to shine, stepping up and making the WA bib her own as an integral part of the Vixens line-up. The tenacity of this youngster is something to marvel at and her connections with Garbin and Kiera Austin (17 from 21, 81%) continue to build.

The stats of each team remained relatively even across the game, but it was the conversion rate of the Vixens that gave them the edge. They finished with a 67% gains-to-goal rate, up on their opponents' 42%.

Q1 | Vixens 19–12 GIANTS

With Jo Harten a late out for the GIANTS, the matchups weren’t as expected but the Vixens had done their homework and worked out their opposition.

It took until halfway through the first quarter for the Vixens to edge out with the lead which they maintained for the entire match; not that they had lost their bearings to begin with, but the tempo was not at their usual intensity. Mundy (31 feeds) delivered two vital intercepts to initiate the breakaway.

Garbin and Austin didn’t miss a beat, shooting at 100% for the first term. As always, their performance can be credited somewhat to their work with Mundy and Kate Moloney (game-high 39 feeds), opening up space and setting up the goalers.

Q2 | Vixens 34–25 GIANTS

The pace picked up in the second quarter, with the Vixens beginning to return to their game style.

Jo Weston caused her opponent Maddie Hay into five general play turnovers for the half and supported the goal defenders Emily Mannix and Rudi Ellis well, who each managed three gains for the half. Ellis (5 gains, 6 deflections) continued her form from last week, not allowing Matisse Letherbarrow to move freely in the circle, while Mannix (4 gains, 2 rebounds) managed the speed and agility of Sophie Dwyer.

Q3 | Vixens 53–39 GIANTS

The third quarter was the Vixens’ strongest, as they extended their lead out to 15 goals. It was the control and dominance they’d been building towards in the first half that they executed in the third term.

The blistering speed of both Austin into the ring and Mundy to circle edge had the GIANTS’ defenders dazed and confused, while a quiet(er) achiever this year, Moloney racked up the Nissan Net Points and sat top of the table in the third term.

Q4 | Vixens 74–60 GIANTS

The GIANTS challenged the Vixens in the final quarter with a change up in their defensive end. The Vixens had been comfortable with their lead, but the mix up was tricky to manage; regardless, the ever-reliable Garbin clocked off with a 95% final quarter accuracy.

Despite the Vixens extending their lead to 17 throughout the term, the visitors stayed in the game to finish with a drawn quarter.

THE NUMBERS

• 93: Player of the match Sophie Garbin was at one with the post, scoring 51 goals at 93%. The goaler is looking incredibly comfortable in the circle with Austin, and with the support of Mundy and Moloney on circle edge.
• 24: Another accuracy number for the statisticians in us all - the Vixens’ biggest streak was 24 goals without a miss in the second quarter.
• 60: Although challenged, the Vixens led for the entire 60 minutes after winning the toss and first centre pass. The rest is history!

THE COACH SAYS

Head coach Simone McKinnis was pleased with her side's conversion of gained ball.

“It was a tough game so I’m happy with the win. We had opportunities to really push on a bit, but the GIANTS did a good job at coming back a bit and staying in the game.”

“It has been an area of focus for us – that scoring off opportunities, the gained ball we get. We’re constantly improving on that because they’re the little opportunities that can make a big difference. If you can take the ball off a team and score off it, then it goes along way in winning the game.”

“I think GIANTS did well in changing up their defence, and I think we started to feel like we didn’t have the options. We maybe got a bit frantic, in some ways the movement stopped, or we had one option. We were made to work for it all the way to the end of the game.”

NEXT UP

Round 9 sees the Vixens face cross-town rivals the Melbourne Mavericks in their second ever derby, facing off at John Cain Arena from 1pm AEST on Monday 10 June, the King’s Birthday public holiday.

Join the hunt with a 2024 Vixens membership

Book tickets for Vixens home games via Ticketek