ROUND 9 of the 2021/22 Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) season resumed on Saturday evening, with the Perth Lynx taking on the Bendigo Spirit. This was shaping up to be a one-sided clash, with Lynx having won six of their eight games, while the Spirit have won just the one game all season.

However, things were made interesting when star guard Marina Mabrey was withdrawn from the team’s lineup as she awaits results of a scan on her foot. Mabrey has been a major key to the team’s success so far this season, so this was a major blow to the team’s offence. This saw the contest prove to be an entertaining one, with both sides delivering some high-class basketball action throughout the match. The Spirit were expected to be blown out, but proved very competitive against one of the competition heavyweights. However, the Lynx were still too good and were able to claim an eight-point victory to move to second spot in the standings.

The Lynx entered this match heavily favoured given the standings, and started the match strongly with ball in hand. They poured in 24 first quarter points in a typically dominant offensive outing. However, what they did not account for is the Spirit being able to match this output, as the bottom-placed side came out firing in the opening period to make it a tie-game at the first break. The second term was simply clinical from Perth, as the side was able to maintain their offensive output from the first term, while also preventing the Spirit from keeping theirs rolling, as they took a whopping 14-point lead into the second half. Bendigo was able to bring themselves back into the contest with a strong third term, but the damage was already done, as the Lynx powered home to a crucial win.

The Lynx were able to outperform their opponents in most of the key statistical categories, including field goal percentage, rebounding and assists, demonstrating the strength of their team moving forward. One area in which they were defeated was three-point percentage, but this was outweighed by their strong performance in all other key areas, which ultimately drove them to victory.

With Mabrey out of the lineup, fellow import guard Jackie Young took full advantage of this opportunity as she led her side to the win. She poured in a game-high 24 points, making 10 of her 18 attempts from the field in a terrific display. She formed a formidable duo with teammate Sami Whitcomb, who had 23 points herself and was even more efficient with 10 of her 15 field goal attempts finding the bottom of the net. Lauren Scherf continued her strong run of form with yet another monster double-double, recording 14 points and 16 rebounds. The Lynx will be thrilled to see that despite the absence of Mabrey, the team still has a strong number of avenues to scoring, which will be crucial in their quest for the title.