Townsville Tip Off Recap: Day 3

On the third and final day of the WNBL Townsville Tip Off ‘25, it was the Townsville Fire who were crowned inaugural Champions of the preseason tournament, while Canberra and Bendigo finished their respective campaigns with wins.

In front of their home fans, the Fire took home the honours and sent a message to the rest of the league that they mean business in WNBL26. They completed their weekend with a dominant 81-54 win over Geelong. Meanwhile, Southside Melbourne’s Isabelle Bourne was awarded the Tiana Mangakahia Award as the MVP of the tournament.

Earlier in the day, Canberra escaped with a tight win over Perth, 84-80, while Bendigo defeated Sydney, 57-48.

The Capitals looked set to waltz home against the Lynx, but an incredible 15-0 run by Perth in the final minutes levelled the scores with 39 seconds remaining. It was Canberra’s Jayda Clark who broke the deadlock with a crafty drive and finish, before import Kadi Sissoko put the game to bed with a lay-up in the final seconds to see the Canberra hold on in nail-biter.

Clark (13 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals) was vital for the Capitals all game long with her ability to get out and run leading to great offence, while Kadi Sissoko (20 points, four rebounds and three steals) and Sara Blicavs (17 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and three steals) made things happen in the frontcourt.

Jade Melbourne (12 points, seven assists and four steals) and Isabella Brancatisano (10 points, eight rebounds and three assists) also scored in double figures.

For Perth, Anneli Maley (22 points and eight rebounds), Amy Atwell (16 points and three assists) and Alex Ciabattoni (12 points, six assists and three rebounds) gave their all.

Bendigo bounced back from a loss to Adelaide two days earlier by taking care of business against Sydney, holding the Flames to just three points in the final quarter. Isobel Borlase came to life in the fourth quarter to lead the Spirit home and finished with 17 points, four steals, three rebounds and three assists.

Import Megan McConnell (13 points and six rebounds) also scored in double figures. For Sydney, Lara McSpadden (12 points and six rebounds) and Lauren Nicholson (11 points and four rebounds) kept Sydney in the game for three quarters, before Bendigo rose to another level in the fourth to claim the win.

After a 21-point win over Sydney yesterday, Townsville continued on their merry way against Geelong, claiming the 81-54 win. With that result, they were also crowned inaugural WNBL Townsville Tip Off Champions.

After holding the Venom to just seven points in the first quarter, the Fire were relentless on both ends of the court all game long. With an even spread of scorers, Townsville’s bench outscored Geelong’s 42-13, led by valuable contributions from Chantel Horvat (15 points and nine rebounds), Catelyn Van Es (10 points) and Piper Anderson (eight points and three assists).

Captain Courtney Woods (nine points, six rebounds and five assists) was her usual do-it-all self, while Alex Fowler (11 points, five rebounds and three steals) was important inside.

For Geelong, Alex Sharp (14 points and six rebounds) and Gemma Potter (13 points and three steals) were lone hands as the team shot just 30 percent from the field.

Over three days of action, all eight WNBL teams descended on Townsville in preparation for the WNBL26 season, which tips off on October 18th with the Southside Melbourne Flyers taking on the Canberra Capitals at John Cain Arena.

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