Round 7 WNBL Review | Thebigtip

What an astonishing round this turned out to be. We had the impressive comeback, the mandatory thrashing and we now don’t have an undefeated team left following the astonishing upset that no-one saw coming. It was a round that left everyone talking and suddenly there’s a real log jam in the ladder as a result.

 Sydney vs Logan
 An extraordinary nigaht has seen Logan inflict Sydney’s first loss of the season with a narrow 74-72 win. Sydney held the lead for the first half before Logan took over with a 25-19 third quarter to lead by 5 at the last change. They went on with it as well and with 2 minutes left, led by 14 points which should’ve led to a comfortable win. Sydney’s Alicia Poto then took over and scored 10 of Sydney’s last 12 points however it wasn’t enough as Logan were able to hold on for the win. What was astonishing is that Logan managed to find the winning formula to beating Sydney and that quite simply is to restrict 1 star and all their other players to crap nights and with enough contribution, you could get over the line. Cayla Francis had another double-double for Logan with 23 points and 10 rebounds while Belinda Snell had 36 points on an extraordinary night for Sydney. Logan improves to 4-3 and jump into the top 5 while Sydney hold top spot with a 7-1 record.

 3 – Belinda Snell (Sydney)
 2 – Cayla Francis (Logan)
 1 – Alicia Poto (Sydney)

 Sydney 72 (Belinda Snell 36, Alicia Poto 20, Amy Denson 6)
 Logan 74 (Cayla Francis 23, Renae Camino 15, Sarah Graham 14)

 Canberra vs AIS
 After a competitive first quarter, Canberra killed off the game with a 32-11 second quarter as they cruised to a comfortable 36 point win over AIS. That second quarter was the low point of the game as Canberra shot 68.4% to 29.4% from the field in that quarter and also doubled the rebounds with 12-6. After that burst, the AIS were competitive but to be fair, they were never really in the hunt. Marianna Tolo led Canberra with 25 points while Sara Blicavs stood up for the AIS with 16 points. Canberra improve their record to 3-7 although they still have a really long way to go to get back into finals contention while the AIS slip to 0-9 and the possibility looms large that they’ll go through a winless season.

 3 – Marianna Tolo (Canberra)
 2 – Sara Blicavs (AIS)
 1 – Jessica Bibby (Canberra)

 Canberra 91 (Marianna Tolo 25, Jessica Bibby 14, Nicole Hunt 11)
 AIS 55 (Sara Blicavs 16, Madeleine Garrick 14, Mikhaela Donnelly 9)

 Dandenong vs Townsville
 Despite winning the last three quarters, Townsville have slumped to their second consecutive defeat with an 82-78 defeat at the hands of Dandenong. Dandenong opened playing some incredible basketball and forcing early foul trouble on the likes of Shanavia Dowdell as they skipped out to a 13 point lead at quarter-time. Late in the second quarter, they led by a game high 17 but then things began to change quite dramatically. Townsville put together a 10-4 run to bring the margin down to a manageable 11. The third quarter was a real tussle as neither side could land the blow they needed. It was basket for basket, point for point and both coaches were pretty edgy but despite this, Dandenong led by 10 at three-quarter time. The opening to the last quarter was as bad as you could get for Dandenong as Townsville finally started knocking down some shots and before we all knew it, had closed the margin to 4. Dandenong steadied but Townsville kept coming and with 2:30 left had closed the margin to 1 point. Fears were that Townsville would claim the win but some clutch plays and clutch defense got them over the line. Krista Phillips led Dandenong with 17 points while Micaela Cocks posted 18 points for Townsville. Dandenong improve to 5-4 while Townsville slip to 6-2

 3 – Jenna O’Hea (Dandenong)
 2 – Shanavia Dowdell (Townsville)
 1 – Alison Downie (Dandenong)

 Dandenong 82 (Krista Phillips 17, Jenna O’Hea 15, Stephanie Cumming 15, Kathleen McLeod 15)
 Townsville 78 (Micalea Cocks 18, Vivian Frieson 16, Shanavia Dowdell 15)

 West Coast vs Bulleen
 33 points from star center Elizabeth Cambage has helped Bulleen to a narrow 8 point win against a surprisingly spirited West Coast outfit. After a competitive first quarter, Bulleen put the foot down with a 28-16 second quarter to seemingly put the game to rest with a 16 point half-time lead. To the credit of West Coast they came back hard and came back showing a real desire for the contest, something which has been lacking on many occasions this season however the margin proved insurmountable as Bulleen hung on for a win they richly deserved. Overall the difference was Bulleen shooting better from the field with 4 less shots, enjoying more trips to the foul line (33-25) and monstering West Coast on the rebounds 41-25. Elizabeth Cambage led Bulleen with 33 points and 14 rebounds while Rohanee Cox had 25 points for West Coast. Bulleen improve their record to 6-1 while West Coast slump to 1-8

 3 – Elizabeth Cambage (Bulleen)
 2 – Rohanee Cox (West Coast)
 1 – Rachel Jarry (Bulleen)