IN a thrilling finish, Wyndham has held off a late charge from McKinnon to claim a one-point win in the weekend’s Big V Women’s round-opener. There was a lot of hype heading into the clash at Eagle Stadium on Saturday night, given the two sides have started the season in strong fashion, and it was shaping as a big matchup in the context of the standings.

The game did not disappoint, and although it looked likely to be a blowout when the home side broke away in a high-scoring second term. However, McKinnon lifted on the defensive end of the court in the final quarter, and were looking a chance of delivering one of the best comeback wins of the 2022 season. Despite a 24-5 fourth period, the visitors finished just one point short of that feat, as Wyndham maintained the pace with the ladder-leading Bulleen. On the other hand, McKinnon remained in third spot, but making up ground towards second will be a lot trickier now.

Wyndham (86) def. McKinnon (85)

Things were pretty even to start the game, with neither side proving more dominant than the other by the time the buzzer sounded to conclude the first term. While Wyndham jumped out to an early 11-point lead on the back of some impressive two-way work from its starters, the opposition fought back thanks to some impressive scoring from Morgan Ili and Claire Ioannidis. In fact, Ioannidis remarkably put McKinnon in front with some free throws late in the first term, and it looked like it would be a serious arm wrestle for the rest of the game. However, Wyndham broke that pattern with a second quarter than can only be described as dominant. The first half of the term was more of the same, as each go-ahead bucket was answered with another down the other end. That all changed when Dyani Ananiev flicked a switch and took over, scoring 13 points in the span of five minutes and helping her side break away from McKinnon. As half time rolled around, Wyndham held not only a 16-point lead, but all of the momentum too, with McKinnon facing an uphill battle.

McKinnon looked to get back in the game in the third term, but unfortunately could not stop its opponents from keeping the margin at a tough number. Amanda Paschal was excellent for Wyndham in the third period, firing on the offensive end and helping her team push the margin out to a whopping 20 points at the final change of play, and things looked like they were over. However, no one could predict that McKinnon still had plenty left in the tank, and would produce their best 10 minutes of the game to close out the contest. Behind Ioannidis and Ili again, they rallied, and while it was a tough task to erase the margin they faced, they were on a serious tear. Ili brought them within one with 47 seconds on the clock, and when they forced a turnover down the other end of the court, an unlikely win looked on the cards. However, Emily Suckling‘s late three was wayward and her side fell short by the smallest of margins.

As she has done plenty of times over the last few weeks, Ananiev led the way for Wyndham in the win. She was at her high-scoring best again on Saturday night, finishing with a game-high 28 points and delivering some big buckets in the first half. Her shooting was once again a big feature of her game, nailing seven of her 12 attempts from behind the arc. Paschal was also terrific, pouring in 20 points, while Lyndsey Hoogenhout was great with a double-double of 11 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks. For McKinnon, Ili and Ioaniddis were the stars of the show, combining for 48 points and bringing their side back into the game and almost to victory.

Across the courts

It was not the most jam-packed schedule to take place in Round 10, but there was still a lot of excitement across the state.

Bulleen (98) def. Chelsea (63)
Sunbury (85) def. Pakenham (64)
Hume (89) def. Southern Peninsula (64)