TOWNSVILLE Fire picked up its second win of the WNBL Round 13, defeating Geelong United to go with victory over Sydney Flames on Wednesday night. In a weekend that finished early on Saturday night, the Fire backed up its 14-point triumph over the Flames with a 19-point win against United up in Far North Queensland.

A four-quarter performance that took until the last stanza to put the icing on the cake, Townsville Fire proved far too good for a plucky Geelong outfit to secure the 19-point win at Townsville Entertainment Centre.

The Fire won each of the terms, leading by three, seven and eight points at the first three breaks, before putting the foot down in the last to tear away with 22 points to 11 in the fourth quarter to win, 89-70 in front of home fans.

It was an even contribution from the home side, as they had a remarkable three players pick up double-doubles. Courtney Woods (14 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists), Nia Coffey (12 points, 10 rebounds and three assists) and Alicia Froling (12 points, 11 rebounds and two assists) all dominated on the night. That was taking nothing away from Lauren Cox who put up a game-high 26 points as well as four rebounds, while Alexandra Fowler added 12 and five respectively.

For the visitors, Alex Sharp did her best en route to a double-double, pulling in a match-high 13 rebounds to accompany the same amount of points, three assists and two steals. Jazmin Shelley (19 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals) and Gemma Potter (16 points, four rebounds) were also prolific in the victory.

Geelong United have the quicker turnaround of the pair, hosting Bendigo Spirit at Geelong Arena on Wednesday from 7pm, while Townsville Fire heads to the State Basketball Centre for a Friday night 7pm tip-off against Southside Flyers.

AROUND THE COURTS

Bendigo Spirit continued its strong season with a hard-fought six-point victory over Adelaide Lightning at the Red Energy Centre. Kelsey Griffin (19 points, 14 rebounds) lead the way for the Spirit in the 65-59 low-scoring victory, with Brianna Turner (11 points, 14 rebounds, four steals and two assists) the best for the Lightning.

UC Capitals had a more comfortable victory over Southside flyers, winning 94-79 at AIS Arena on Saturday. The Capitals won each of the four quarters and had four players with 15 points or more, including young gun Jade Melbourne who amassed an incredibly rare triple-double of 15 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Charli Collier (19 points, six rebounds) was the top-scorer, while Manuela Puoch helped herself to 17 points and nine rebounds in a loss.

Completing the other Saturday game was Perth Lynx handing Sydney Flames a second loss in Round 13. After the Flames went down to Townsville mid-week, they suffered a 22-point defeat to the Lynx at the Quaycentre. Miela Sowah recorded a game-high 23 points, while Laeticia Amihere had 20 points, eight rebounds and four steals for the Lynx, combining well with Alex Wilson (17 points, five assists, four rebounds and four steals). Celeste Taylor (18 points, five rebounds and five assists) was the pick of the Flames.