IN A balanced team effort, the Perth Lynx comfortably took care of the Adelaide Lightning to make it five wins on the trot in WNBL25. The Lynx never trailed at any point in the game, running out 18-point victors to conclude Round 10.

Offensively the home side did not shoot the ball terrifically but were boosted by 26 bench points as opposed to Adelaide’s nine. Despite being outrebounded on the offensive boards 7-10, Perth took advantage of 17 second chance points to the Lightning’s 10. Committing 19 fouls and sending the Lynx to the free throw line 24 times did not help the visitors cause either. 

Brianna Turner did all she could to lift her side, scoring 15 points, grabbing 14 rebounds, dishing out three assists and collecting three steals and six blocks, while Stephanie Talbot also contributed 17 points, six assists and six rebounds. Isabelle Bourne was efficient from the field for her 13 points, as was Haylee Andrews in her 12-point effort. But with the four above mentioned players and Isobel Borlase combining for 16 turnovers it was always going to be an uphill battle to circumvent the possession battle.

Adelaide shot 32 per cent from three-point land to Perth’s 29 per cent but gave up the ball far too easily and sent the home team to the charity stripe much too often.

The Lynx continue to roll and are getting impressive performances across the board from their deep rotation. Laeticia Amihere provided 20 points and nailed all eight of her free throws to go with seven rebounds and two blocks, while Anneli Maley scored 19 points and ripped down 14 rebounds, also sending out five assists.

Miela Sowah’s shooting touch returned as she knocked down three shots from distance on her way to 18 points, while Amy Atwell scored 18 of her own, draining five shots from long range. Alex Wilson flirted with a double-double scoring nine points and dishing out 10 dimes, while Steph Gorman had four steals in a stellar defensive outing. 

Whilst Adelaide have now dropped to 5-9 on the season and sit on the fringes of finals contention, Perth have moved to 11-3, comfortably second on the WNBL table with just one game separating them and ladder leaders, Bendigo.

Both sides play just one game in Round 11, with Adelaide heading to Victoria to play the UC Capitals on Saturday afternoon while Perth will head to Geelong to take on Geelong United on Sunday morning, before kicking off Round 12 just days later in a Wednesday evening blockbuster against Bendigo.

Perth knocked off Geelong by a dominant 25 points in their only matchup so far, while the top of the table sides have already played twice this season, splitting the points. Bragging rights (and potentially the minor premiership) will be on the line.