IN A ONE-POINT Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) thriller over the weekend, the Perth Lynx were able to stave off a late charge from the Geelong Venom to remain undefeated with a gutsy road victory.

The Lynx entered Round 3 of the 2025/26 WNBL season with two wins from two games, and following the Townsville Fire‘s loss earlier in the week, had the chance to move to the top of the table outright as the only unbeaten side in the competition.

However, in their path laid the Venom, and although they had not got off to as strong of a start themselves with one win from three games, Geelong did have home court advantage, and was always going to make life difficult for the Lynx.

In a contest that went right down to the wire, the Lynx were able to get defensive stops in the final minute of the game, holding on for a win by a solitary point to secure their position at the top of the ladder after three weeks of play.

Geelong Venom (76) def. by Perth Lynx (77)

The Lynx were off to the perfect start, not allowing the opposition to score for the first three minutes of the contest, which was enough time for the visitors to build a hefty lead and silence the crowd at Geelong Arena. However, the Venom were able to steady as the quarter went on, courtesy of a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to just five points at the first break.

The action became much more even in the second frame with the teams trading baskets in some excellent back-and-forth hoops on Saturday night. Perth’s Brianna Turner was becoming a force on the glass, getting first hands on the ball and often translating it into scoring possessions, while Jazmin Shelley and Alex Sharp were finding scoring avenues for the Venom, with the margin cut down to three points at half time.

The third quarter was much more of the same, with almost every basket answered down the other end as the Lynx struggled to break free from Geelong on its home court. Venom import Mackenzie Holmes began to assert herself on the match, and had a crucial stretch of shotmaking to close out the third frame and bring her side within one point with a quarter to play.

The Lynx clearly wanted to put the game to bed in the first few minutes of the fourth term, bursting out to a six-point lead and the game was slipping away from the Venom. However, Geelong coach Chris Lucas injected Elissa Brett into the game, and she gave the home side a spark on the offensive end.

Trailing by a point in the final seconds of the match, Holmes thought she had secured the match-winning basket as time expired, but the review showed the ball was still in her hands when time expired, denying her heroic moment as the Lynx held on.

One of the biggest positives for the Lynx in their win was the return of Alex Wilson, who played her first game in over 100 days and finished with 14 points in 20 minutes of court time. Also impressing were Turner (13 points, 16 rebounds) and Anneli Maley (15 points, five rebounds).

For the Venom, Holmes was her usual dominant self with another huge performance at home despite the result. She finished with 22 points, 16 rebounds, three assists and two steals and almost stole the win for the hosts.