Round 8 WNBL Review | Thebigtip

Another extraordinary round has left us all with numerous questions. Are Townsville on the verge of a fadeout? Who will win the wooden spoon battle between the AIS and West Coast? Are Bendigo not as good as I thought? Could Adelaide be the title fancies this season? All those and more are to be answered in the coming weeks.

AIS vs TOWNSVILLE

It’s finally happened! After 9 straight losses, the AIS have caused the biggest upset of the WNBL season with a shock 68-67 win over a stunned Townsville. What makes this even more astounding is that Townsville actually led by 10 points at half-time before fading out in one of the greatest shocks of all time. To pinpoint exactly what cost Townsville the game oddly enough doesn’t require a rocket scientist as the stats are pretty damning. Townsville shot at 38.2% from the field with 10 more shots than the AIS who shot at 53.4%. Townsville also had 10 more rebounds than the AIS, all of which were offensive and they certainly had enough chances to win but they just threw it away. Sara Blicavs was the star for the AIS with 27 points while Shanavia Dowdell led Townsville with just 12 points. The AIS improve to 1-9 while Townsville slip to 6-4 and in a little bit of bother.

3 – Olivia Thompson (AIS)
2 – Sara Blicavs (AIS)
1 – Shanavia Dowdell (Townsville)

AIS 68 (Sara Blicavs 27, Olivia Thompson 21, Mikhaela Donnelly 6)
Townsville 67 (Shanavia Dowdell 12, Ellie Manou 10, Nadeen Payne 9, Jess Foley 9)

LOGAN vs WEST COAST

Logan have come from 7 points down at three-quarter time to defeat West Coast by 3 points in an extraordinary match. After an even opening quarter, West Coast took control to lead by 2 points at half-time and 7 at the last change before Logan launched their final assault. West Coast were in front until Sarah Graham hit a three-pointer with 90 seconds left to give Logan the lead and they were able to extend on it to finish in front. Logan had 14 more shots, 10 more assists and 6 more offensive rebounds than West Coast so it could be argued that they deserved to win but having led for quite a bit of the game, West Coast will be very frustrated not to claim the win. Cayla Francis had another double-double for Logan with 20 points and 11 rebounds while Rohanee Cox led all scorers for West Coast with 21 points. Logan improves their record to 5-3 while West Coast slide to 1-9.
 
3 – Cayla Francis (Logan)
2 – Rohanee Cox (West Coast)
1 – Sarah Graham (Logan)

Logan 72 (Cayla Francis 20, Sarah Graham 16, Corrina Montgomery 10)
West Coast 69 (Rohanee Cox 21, Samantha Norwood 14, Melissa Marsh 11)

SYDNEY vs ADELAIDE

Adelaide have rocketed into title favouritism after consigning Sydney to their second successive loss with a thrilling 77-74 win. It was a remarkably even game with neither team able to blow away the other. Sydney led by 1 at quarter time only to see Adelaide take a 2 point lead at half-time. Despite numerous lead changes throughout, Adelaide were able to hold on and record the win. All the stat categories were remarkably even with the only blowout occurring in the assists with Adelaide having 23 to Sydney’s 14. Suzy Batkovic had the all-round game of the season for Adelaide with 25 points, 16 rebounds and 5 blocks while Katie-Rae Ebzery ended up as the surprise leading scorer for Sydney with 22 points. Adelaide improves their record to 8-2 and takes top spot off Sydney who slip to 7-2 for the season.

3 – Suzy Batkovic (Adelaide)
2 – Belinda Snell (Sydney)
1 – Abby Bishop (Adelaide)

Sydney 74 (Katie-Rae Ebzery 22, Belinda Snell 20, Alicia Poto 19)
Adelaide 77 (Suzy Batkovic 25, Abby Bishop 22, Amy Lewis 15)   

DANDENONG vs BENDIGO

If you had told me before the game that Dandenong would find a way to win against bogey-side Bendigo with their star guard Jenna O’Hea and improving center Krista Phillips both injured before half-time I’d tell you to perhaps get a reality check. Remarkably, that’s exactly what happened as Dandenong managed to put together a second half-performance to remember and hold on against a fast finishing Bendigo to record a season-defining 9 point win.

The second half was played in bursts with Dandenong coming out of half-time on a 15-3 run before Bendigo closed the gap to just 3 at three-quarter time. Dandenong again burst out of the blocks to lead by 10 midway through the last before Bendigo closed the gap to 3 and raising hopes of another win before Kathleen McLeod stood up for Dandenong with 6 points in the last minute to secure the win. Dandenong shot at 47.8% to Bendigo’s 36.9%, had 10 turnovers to Bendigo’s 17 and remarkably had 8 blocks to Bendigo’s 1, mainly due to Louella Tomlinson who had 6 of the 8 blocks.

Kathleen McLeod led Dandenong with 36 points while Deanna Smith led Bendigo with 16 points. Dandenong improve to 6-4 while Bendigo are in some strife now at 4-5.

3 – Kathleen McLeod (Dandenong)
2 – Gabrielle Richards (Bendigo)
1 – Teagan Cunningham (Dandenong)

Dandenong 85 (Kathleen McLeod 36, Stephanie Cumming 18, Teagan Cunningham 10)
Bendigo 76 (Deanna Smith 16, Gabrielle Richards 13, Tess Madgen 12)

TOWNSVILLE vs WEST COAST

In a entirely forgettable match, Townsville have broken their 4 game losing streak with a workmanlike 71-56 win over West Coast. With both teams backing up from heartbreaking losses on Friday night, it was Townsville who opened on fire with a 5 point lead at quarter-time before ending the match as a contest with a 23-14 second quarter to lead by 14 at half-time. Despite a more competitive second half, West Coast were unable to bridge the gap however a rare collector’s item occurred in the last quarter with both sides failing to reach double figures with Townsville edging that quarter 9-8. Of course, by that stage, the game was comfortably in their keeping and both teams were very fatigued so that’s entirely understandable but for the fans at the Townsville RSL Stadium, it was a forgettable ending to a successful afternoon. The main difference at the end of the day was the ugly rebound count with Townsville having 41 rebounds to 26. Shanavia Dowdell led Townsville with 17 points and 12 rebounds while Samantha Norwood led West Coast with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Townsville improve their record to 7-4 while West Coast slump to 1-10 and the bottom of the ladder.

3 – Shanavia Dowdell (Townsville)
2 – Samantha Norwood (West Coast)
1 – Rohanee Cox (West Coast)

Townsville 71 (Shanavia Dowdell 17, Jess Foley 14, Rachael Flanagan 12)
West Coast 56 (Samantha Norwood 18, Rohanee Cox 15, Jasmine Hooper 9)

With the round completed, the ladder sits as follows.

Adelaide 8-2
Sydney 7-2
Bulleen 6-2
Townsville 7-4
Logan 5-3
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Dandenong 6-4
Bendigo 4-5
Canberra 3-7
AIS 1-9
West Coast 1-10

After this round, the player of the year has regrettably become clear cut and barring a loss of form, the likes of which no-one has seen, you would think Suzy Batkovic of Adelaide will be crowned best player.

29 – Suzy Batkovic (Adelaide)
22 – Belinda Snell (Sydney)
20 – Shanavia Dowdell (Townsville)
18 – Marianna Tolo (Canberra)
17 – Cayla Francis (Logan)
17 – Rohanee Cox (West Coast)
16 – Elizabeth Cambage (Bulleen)

Fairytale Story of the Week

This week there’s 2 nominations for this rarely used segment.

Nomination 1 – Dandenong’s astonishing win over Bendigo despite being 2 players down before half-time. To lose a star guard (Jenna O’Hea) and improving center (Krista Phillips) would give Mark Wright real concerns but to his credit, he galvanized the rest and led them to an astonishing win.

Nomination 2 – AIS' first win of the season. Not only did they win but they came from behind to win and it was their two stars of the season Sara Blicavs and Olivia Thompson that delivered them the win. The AIS rarely win a game as they’re the youngest team in the competition without fail but to win this game against a Townsville side that had been overachieving is the biggest upset of the season and the girls would love it. Question is whether they can back up this performance with another one against Bendigo next Sunday.

Anyway with that, comes the end of the Round 8 Review. Stay tuned for the Round 9 preview later in the week.