Round 9 WNBL Review | Thebigtip

What an extraordinary round of WNBL. Right now I’m still speechless from the “greatest WNBL game of all time.” I know that’s a big thing to claim but I genuinely believe that it was one of the best ever. We had that along with an upset of sorts and a “near upset” so really the round was just like every other one except for that best ever game.

BULLEEN vs SYDNEY
This match will possibly go down as the greatest WNBL ever played and sitting here a day later after watching it on TV, I’m still speechless as to what occurred and how. It all started off most dramatically when Sydney forward Eva Afeaki hurt her knee in the opening six seconds of the game however that setback spurred Sydney on as they took the game completely by the scruff of the next. A 31-16 opening quarter extended quickly to 45-18 with 6 minutes left in the second quarter as Belinda Snell hit 23 points in that patch. Bulleen then went on an extraordinary 30-10 run in the last 6 minutes to reduce the margin to 7 points at half-time and everyone was astonished. Bulleen carried on and reduced the margin to 5 points with 6 minutes in the 3^rd quarter only to see Sydney shoot their way back to a 14 point lead with a quarter to go. Bulleen again made a run and reduced it to single figures early in the last only to see Sydney kick it back out and at 2:27 left in the game and a time-out, Sydney still led by 11 until Bulleen made an extraordinary charge out of nothing. They reduced the margin and finally had to foul to send Sydney to the line and Belinda Snell made 1 of 2 to extend the margin to 2 with 16 seconds left. The last 16 seconds were the best ever. Bulleen time-out saw the ball advance to half-way and then they inbounded and dunked it in to Cambage who missed the first, got the rebound and tied the scores. Sydney inbounded and Alicia Poto’s full court pass saw Katie-Rae Ebzery score the tie-breaker and Kerryn Harrington’s last ditch 3 point attempt fell agonizingly short for Bulleen. Astonishing scenes and an astonishing game indeed. Belinda Snell scored 30 points for Sydney to help improve their record to 8-2 for the season while Bulleen slip to 6-3 with a short recovery time before the match on Wednesday night in Bendigo.

3 – Elizabeth Cambage (Bulleen)
2 – Belinda Snell (Sydney)
1 – Samantha Richards (Bulleen)

Bulleen 88 (Elizabeth Cambage 26, Samantha Richards 22, Rachel Jarry 21)
Sydney 90 (Belinda Snell 30, Katie-Rae Ebzery 16, Amy Denson 15)

TOWNSVILLE vs LOGAN
It was the QLD derby Mark II on Friday night and a deplorable opening half has consigned Logan to a 9 point loss against a Townsville side reeling from the loss of Vivian Frieson pregame. She was released to head home to deal with family issues. Anyway Logan opened the first quarter playing inept offence and found themselves trailing 17-4 at quarter-time, a margin which quickly extended to 16 at half-time. To Logan’s credit, they fought out the game and in fact, managed to win the second half but the damage had already been done. The stats were all relatively even with both teams having the same shots (Townsville shooting at 41% to Logan’s 38%), similar number of assists, turnovers and blocks. It was Logan’s horrible start that proved to be their undoing. Shanavia Dowdell top scored with 20 points for Logan while Cayla Francis top-scored for Logan with 12 points. Townsville improve their record to 8-4 while Logan slip to 5-4 and out of the top 5.

3 – Shanavia Dowdell (Townsville)
2 – Cayla Francis (Logan)
1 – Rachael Flanagan (Townsville)

Townsville 69 (Shanavia Dowdell 20, Rachael Flanagan 19, Jess Foley 8, Nadeen Payne 8)
Logan 60 (Cayla Francis 12, Kristen Veal 11, Renae Camino 9)

WEST COAST vs CANBERRA
Following on from the theme of the QLD Derby, an abysmal first half has seen West Coast lose by 17 points against Canberra. They opened up horribly to trail 25-14 at quarter-time and this was quickly extended to 18 at half-time. Just like Logan, they lifted and they did manage to win the second half by a point but the damage had been well and truly done. The main difference in this match was the shooting with Canberra shooting at 48% to West Coast’s 35% and they were also able to restrict Rohanee Cox to 8 points which went a long way towards securing the win. Brigette Ardossi top scored for Canberra with 19 points as they improve their record to 4-7 while Samantha Norwood and Melissa Marsh top scored with 15 for the Waves as they stay on the bottom with a 1-11 record.

3 – Samantha Norwood (West Coast)
2 – Brigette Ardossi (Canberra)
1 – Carly Wilson (Canberra)

West Coast 72 (Samantha Norwood 15, Melissa Marsh 15, Nikita-Lee Martin 11)
Canberra 89 (Brigette Ardossi 19, Carly Wilson 15, Marianna Tolo 13)

DANDENONG vs SYDNEY
Yet again another match which followed the common theme of the round as a poor first half saw Sydney slip to a 11 point loss against Dandenong. Feeling the effects of the match the previous night, Sydney opened horribly to trail by 10 at quarter-time which then extended to 23 midway through the second quarter before Sydney brought themselves back into the game to trail by 15 at half-time. It turned into a basket for basket third quarter however Dandenong shot clear early in the last to lead by 21 points. Sydney made one last charge to trail by 11 but just when a famous win looked possible, Belinda Snell fouled out for Sydney and Dandenong were able to cruise to an 11 point win. Stephanie Cumming led Dandenong’s scoring with 16 points as they improved to a 7-4 record while Amy Denson and Katie-Rae Ebzery led Sydney with 15 points as they fell off top spot to 8-3.

3 – Amy Denson (Sydney)
2 – Kathleen McLeod (Dandenong)
1 – Alison Downie (Dandenong)

Dandenong 80 (Stephanie Cumming 16, Kathleen McLeod 15, Jenna O’Hea 15)
Sydney 69 (Amy Denson 15, Katie-Rae Ebzery 15, Belinda Snell 12)

AIS vs BENDIGO
Earlier in the week I called this a potential danger game for Bendigo but it was anything but as they cruised to an astonishing 41 point win over an incredibly lacklustre AIS team. Bendigo led 23-10 at quarter-time but then turned on the greatest defensive performance of all time to restrict the AIS to 6 points in the second quarter and 4 points in the 3^rd to make the game all but safe. Despite the AIS being more competitive in the last quarter, the margin still ballooned further. Deanna Smith top scored for the now 5-5 Bendigo Spirit with 19 points while Sara Blicavs top-scored with just 8 on a dark, dark day for the 1-10 AIS.

3 – Tess Madgen (Bendigo)
2 – Deanna Smith (Bendigo)
1 – Sara Blicavs (AIS)

AIS 30 (Sara Blicavs 8, Mikhaela Donnelly 7, Carley Mijovic 5)
Bendigo 71 (Deanna Smith 19, Tess Madgen 18, Gabrielle Richards 11)

ADELAIDE vs CANBERRA
Adelaide have engineered a remarkable comeback to topple Canberra by 9 points in an absolute thriller in Adelaide to complete the round. Canberra opened up the better team and in a high-scoring first quarter led by 7 points at half-time. They maintained the same margin at half-time but then the toll began to show from their Friday night match. Adelaide charged right back into the game in the 3^rd quarter to trail by one at the last change before Canberra went ice cold. Scores were actually tied with 3 minutes left at 73 each before Adelaide reeled off an 11-2 run to secure the win  Predictably Suzy Batkovic top scored for the 9-2 Adelaide with 25 points while Jess Bibby led the 4-8 Canberra with 21 points.

3 – Suzy Batkovic (Adelaide)
2 – Abby Bishop (Adelaide)
1 – Carly Wilson (Canberra)

Adelaide 84 (Suzy Batkovic 25, Abby Bishop 18, Amy Lewis 13)
Canberra 75 (Jessica Bibby 21, Carly Wilson 12, Nicole Hunt 12, Brigette Ardossi 12)

With the round completed, the ladder now sits as follows

Adelaide 9-2
Sydney 8-3
Townsville 8-4
Bulleen 6-3
Dandenong 7-4
-----------------------------
Logan 5-4
Bendigo 5-5
Canberra 4-8
AIS 1-10
West Coast 1-11

The player of the year is now turning into the battle for second as Adelaide’s Suzy Batkovic continues to extend her lead

32 – Suzy Batkovic (Adelaide)
24 – Belinda Snell (Sydney)
23 – Shanavia Dowdell (Townsville)
19 – Cayla Francis (Logan)
19 – Elizabeth Cambage (Bulleen)

The Final Word

Was the Bulleen vs Sydney game the greatest ever? For the champions Bulleen to trail by 27 points and then to come back like they did; for them to somehow manage to level the scores only to lose to a play out of this world; for a game that had so many twists and turns and should never have got as intense as it did, this surely would lay claims to one, if not, the greatest WNBL game of all time. Both teams deserve credit for the way they played and really, after watching it yesterday, all I can say is wow!

Hope you can check the Round 10 preview which will be coming out earlier this week as there’s a Wednesday night game this week between Bendigo and Bulleen