THE Adelaide Lightning may have been on the receiving end of an 89-64 loss at the hands of the Melbourne Boomers, but one positive to come out of the match was the performance of Kierstan Bell, with the import putting in a hard day’s work.

The Lightning were convincingly beaten by a Boomers side that currently has genuine title aspirations and produced more from a team level. However, Bell was the standout for the Lightning, leading the team offensively.

Her 16 points were the most of anyone in an Adelaide uniform at Adelaide 36ers Stadium on Sunday afternoon, and the team will be impressed with the progress of the 22-year-old, who brings experience from the NCAA and WNBA.

Adelaide Lightning (64) def. by Melbourne Boomers (89)

Kierstan Bell – 16 points, three rebounds, one assist

Bell was Adelaide’s best chance at conjuring a basket on a tough night at the office, and although it was not her most accurate performance from the field, she was still the most effective at overcoming a suffocating defensive performance from Melbourne.

The guard made six successful field goals on 16 attempts, as Melbourne forced some tough shots from almost all of the Adelaide players. With the Boomers’ bigs guarding the paint extremely well, Bell had her best success from behind the arc, going four from eight from behind the three-point line.

With Tiffany Mitchell on the sidelines, Bell and her fellow Lightning guards had a strong chance to strike against a Boomers side without their best player. Bell was the one who stood up and struck offensively, while some of her teammates simply had an inaccurate day at the office.

It took a while for the United States native to register her first bucket of the match, but she got involved late in the first term as Adelaide grabbed control of the contest. Bell’s maiden score of the game was a triple, putting the Lightning up by seven points, before draining another trifecta a minute later as the home side led at the first change.

Bell returned from a stint on the bench to drive inside and finish at the hoop and keep Adelaide’s lead beyond a single bucket. However, her next few attempts from the field were wayward as Melbourne quickly got on top on the scoreboard on the eve of halftime.

She drained a crucial three-pointer early in the second half, her third of the match to keep Adelaide within striking distance. Although the Lightning were right in the match at that stage of the match, Melbourne broke away as Bell received some tighter coverage around the court, and the deficit slipped away.

Despite the loss, Adelaide will be encouraged by the performance of the 22-year-old, who will likely prosper with the strength of her performance against Melbourne, and still has plenty of room to grow in the remainder of the season.