IN a rematch of the weekend before, the result was reversed as Melbourne defeated Townsville 66-59 in the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL).

The Boomers raceD out to a 9-0 lead early on in the match, and although the Fire came back at them the margin was still 12 points at the first change. The Fire came back at the Boomers hard in the second term and by the time the main break rolled around the margin was only three points.

Townsville actually drew level with Melbourne part way through the third term and by the time the teams turned for home the margin was a single point. Townsville took the lead four minutes into the final term, but the Boomers came back and ultimately ran over the top and took a seven-point win.

For the Boomers, Eziyoda Magbegor top scored with 20 points. Lindsay Allen scored 15 points, while Tiffany Mitchell scored 11. In terms of the stats, Cayla George registered a whopping 11 rebounds, while Magbegor registered six. Mitchell also registered four assists.

Meanwhile for the losers, Monique Billings top scored with 14 points, while Nadeen Payne shot 11 and Lauren Nicholson shot 10. In terms of other personal stats, Sug Sutton registered five assists and six rebounds. Meanwhile Billings registered a whopping 12 rebounds and Zitina Aokuso registered eight rebounds.

Despite losing the match, Townsville won many of the stats. In terms of non scoring related stats, the offensive and defensive rebound totals were both fairly even between the two sides. In both offensive rebounds (nine to seven) and defensive rebounds (29 to 25) it was the Fire who registered the higher figure.

The personal foul count was fairly even, but Townsville ultimately registered four more personal fouls then the Boomers did. The Fire registered more assists (15 to 11), but the Boomers registered vastly more blocks then the Fire did (seven to one).

In terms of the scoring related stats, Melbourne finished with a higher field goal percentage (39.7 to 33.3 per cent) but Townsville finished with a higher three point percentage (26.3 to 15.8 per cent) and free throw percentage (75 to 73.9 per cent) then the Boomers did.