THE third round of the Women’s National Basketball League continued on Sunday night, with the Melbourne Boomers travelling to Bendigo Stadium to take on the Spirit. The two sides faced off in round 2, with the Spirit causing quite the boilover to claim a five-point win, their first in over a season. The Boomers worked hard in this match to ensure this was not a repeat occurrence, on their way to one of the biggest wins of the season as they took down their opponents to the tune of 25 points.

FIRST QUARTER:

The opening period saw the match start in highly contested fashion, with neither side gaining immediate ascendancy in the opening minutes. Both teams appeared to have no troubles sinking their shots with the scoring quite high for an opening quarter. The lead went back-and-forth throughout the opening minutes, and by the time the first break had rolled around, the Boomers held on to a one-point advantage over the Spirit, as it appeared likely fans would be treated to another thriller between the sides.

SECOND QUARTER:

The second quarter was more of the same, with the two teams trading buckets in some exciting basketball action. While the scoring slowed down slightly, there was no question in terms of intensity between the sides, with every possession proving valuable given the close nature of the game. Proceedings were tied with less than two minutes remaining in the term, however, the Boomers went on a late run to take a five-point lead into the main break.

THIRD QUARTER:

The second half saw the Boomers produce their best work, storming away in the third term as they blitzed their opponents on both ends of the floor. The Spirit were unable to match this intensity, particularly on the offensive end, as the Boomers stretched the lead to double digits in the opening minutes of the quarter. By the time the third quarter came to a close, the lead was all the way out to 20 points with the match essentially out of hand by this point.

FOURTH QUARTER:

The final period saw the match become more even, but this was likely due to the Boomers slightly taking their foot off the pedal. The lead was still extended, but nowhere to the extent of the third team, with the Spirit putting up more of a fight on both ends of the court. However, it was a far cry from the result in round 2, with the side falling by a whopping 25 points to close out the third round of the WNBL.

CLOSING THOUGHTS …

For the Boomers, Tiffany Mitchell was outstanding for the third week in a row, finishing with 25 points on accurate shooting, making 10 of her 13 field goal attempts in just 26 minutes. Also performing strongly was teammate Eziyoda Magbegor, who poured in 21 points and a whopping 16 rebounds in a towering performance. The duo could not be stopped as Spirit players and coaches were left clueless as to how to curb their influence. For Bendigo, Madeleine Garrick was the only player in double-digits, finishing with 17 impressive points.