Townsville Fire

Position: 4th
Record: 13-9

Leaders
Points: 15.9ppg Shanavia Dowdell
Rebounds: 9.3rpg Shanavia Dowdell
Assists: 4.0apg Rachael Flanagan
Steals: 1.3spg Jessica Foley

Season Overview:
It’s all been happening for Townsville. The addition of Shanavia Dowdell has had a significant impact on the court, while the move to the Townsville RSL Arena has seen the fans flock in droves.

Sporting a strong squad and led by on-court General Rachael Flanagan the Fire was able to secure a finals win and give their home fans some brilliant moments in 2011/12.

Best Win: 85-78 v Sydney Uni Flames Elimination Final
The victory in the WNBL Elimination Final was a fitting result for the Fire, with Jessica Foley the star of the night, scoring 21 points and claiming 9 rebounds to give the Townsville RSL Arena its first taste of finals success.

Standout: Shanavia Dowdell
What an impact this talented 24-year-old American has made on the WNBL. From her 19 point, 8 rebound and 4 steal debut performance through the entire season Dowdell has led the way for the Fire, giving them a much-needed inside presence.

Dowdell walked away from her debut WNBL season leading the Fire points (15.9 per game), rebounds (9.3), field goal percentage (.528), field goals made (169-of-320) and claim a WNBL All Star Five honour.

Rising Star: Nadeen Payne
The 18-year-old AIS product enjoyed her first full season with the Fire, benefiting from the attention drawn by Dowdell, allowing the hometown girl to develop at a rapid pace.

Playing in all 24 games the 188cm forward/centre averaged 7.8 points, shooting at an impressive .478 from the field, and 3.3 rebounds.

Coach: Chris Lucas
We were reasonably satisfied with how we went considering we brought in eight new players and had to pretty much start a club from scratch, with a new board, new coach and new stadium.

Obviously success in measured in Championships, but to have played in finals was a good achievement.

Crowds
Without question (the strong home crowds) had an impact on the players. I believe we had the best crowds in Australia and with the support of the local community the players loved it and really fed off it.

Shanavia Dowdell
Not only is she a fantastic athlete, but she is a fantastic person. I did plenty of background checks on all the players I brought in and when recruiting for the roster we were strong on recruiting good people and Shanavia was certainly that.

She was undersized for her position, but worked so hard and it was good to have her in the team.