Townsville Tip Off Recap: Day 1

The Southside Melbourne Flyers and Adelaide Lightning have claimed wins on the opening day of the WNBL Townsville Tip Off. For the Flyer sit was a dominant 102-74 win over the Perth Lynx, while the Lightning forged back from 20 points down to overcome the Bendigo Spirit in overtime, 85-83.

Southside Melbourne came out firing against Perth setting the tone early and they never looked back. With five players scoring in double figures, it was a total team effort from the Flyers, led by their superstar Opal recruits Issie Bourne (20 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals) and Cayla George (19 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 assists) who put on a show.

Both players knocked down three triples in the first quarter and it was a sign of things to come as Southside Melbourne lit it up from deep, connecting on 19 three-pointers at a stunning 47.5% clip.

With the Flyers leading 33-10 at the first break, the Lynx responded in the opening minutes of the second quarter, finding their groove from deep and pouring in 20 points in five minutes, cutting the deficit to 11 points, 41-30, at the midway point of the second quarter.

It was Tegan Graham’s three-point shooting that got Perthback into the game and she finished with a team-high 23 points (6/8 from deep) in a masterful shooting display. She played a lone shooting hand, with the restof her teammates hitting just 3/19 on long range attempts.

The offence was humming all night for the Flyers, with ball movement creating open looks for shooters. While George and Bourne were impressive for Southside Melbourne, fellow new recruits Haylee Andrews (9points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds) and import Makenna Marisa (19 points and 3rebounds) were just as important.

Indiah Bowyer’s shooting prowess provided a huge lift off the bench for Southside Melbourne, finishing with 14 points on 4/6 shooting from deep

A 13-point half time lead for the Flyers ballooned out to 24points off the back of more sublime team work as Southside Melbourne passed up good shots for great shots and it paid dividends as Marisa hit back-to-back triples.

With both teams missing Opal squad members in Maddy Rocci and Ally Wilson, it was Southside Melbourne who had more contributors step up and have an impact. For Perth, Anneli Maley (14 points, 12 rebounds and 3assists) and Amy Atwell (11 points) scored in double figures.

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In the second game of the night, the Lightning prevailed in overtime against the Spirit, displaying their grit with a never say die attitude, finding a way to turn the game around after trailing by 20 points inthe third quarter.

Dallas Loughridge showed Adelaide fans what they can expect from her as she shone bright in her new colours. Finishing with a team-high 21 points (11/13 FT), Loughridge relentlessly drove into the paint all night long and was duly rewarded.

After a mostly tight first half, Bendigo put the foot down with a 7-0 run to end the second quarter and continued that form into the third quarter to complete a 20-4 run to lead 54-34 with 6:40 remaining in the third quarter.

It was Izzy Borlase (25 points and 5 rebounds) and Marianna Tolo (19 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists) doing the damage for the Spirit,while import Megan McConnell (11 points and 6 assists) and Georgia Booth (13 points and 5 rebounds) were also busy.

Just as Bendigo looked to be running away with the game,Adelaide made their move, led by Loughridge and Tayla Brazel (16 points, 9rebounds and 6 assists) as they dug deep and answered the call for their team.

Import Serena Sundell (9 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists) and Ashlee Strawbridge (12 points) also stepped up to the plate and provided some key buckets. Adelaide forced overtime by outscoring Bendigo 26-15 in the fourth quarter, but their chance to win it in regulation was denied as Loughridge’s last second driving lay-up attempt was blocked by Tolo.

Through Tolo, Bendigo built a six-point lead with 2:10 on the clock, but again, it was the fight from Adelaide that saw them get back into the game. Loughridge drained a pair of free throws, then knocked down a classy floater to have it back to a two-point game with 1:20 remaining.

When it mattered most, it was Jasmin Fejo (11 points and 4rebounds) who delivered the knock-out blow, hitting a clutch three-pointer with 40 seconds remaining to see the Lightning take the lead, 84-83.

On the final possession of the game, Sharne Robati (7points, 10 rebounds) played stellar defence and read the play to perfection to grab a steal on the pass inside to Tolo to seal an impressive 85-83 win.

The Townsville Tip Off continues tomorrow with Geelong facing Canberra at 2pm, followed by Townsville taking on Sydney at 4pm, before the final game of the day sees today’s two winners face off with Southside Melbourne set to battle Adelaide at 6pm. Get your tickets here.

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