A PAIR of Australian Opals were the difference in Southside Melbourne Flyers’ 13-point win over Adelaide Lightning, kicking away to a nice 85-72 victory after a tight first three quarters. Flyers co-captains Cayla George and Maddison Rocci – who were announced in the national squad to head to Turkey earlier this month – dug deep to produce strong performances in the Round 11 WNBL win.

Southside Melbourne Flyers (85) def. Adelaide Lightning (72)

After Sydney Flamers’ upset win over the UC Capitals the day before, both the fifth placed Flyers and sixth placed Lightning suddenly saw the door ajar for that crucial fourth place in the WNBL Finals race so the stakes were higher than normal. The two teams were also coming in off the back of losses in Round 10 with the Flyers losing at home to the Bendigo Spirit, while the Lightning also lost to the Spirit on the road, before being thrashed by the Lynx at home on December 21.

Though always having the upper hand, the Flyers only lead by three points at both quarter time and half-time as the Lightning kept touch with their opponents. Even heading into the final term the home side had only built a five-point margin as more than 2000 people watched on at the State Basketball Centre.

An evenly matched contest across the board, the Flyers were able to pick off more rebounds throughout the course of the match with a plus-11 advantage (44-33) and their seven more offensive boards (17-10) proving key for second chance buckets. No doubt Lightning skipper and fellow Opal Stephanie Talbot (24 points, four assists and three rebounds) was a headache for the home side as she consistently forced her way to the charity line.

But the well-balanced work across the board from the Flyers – which included having five double-digit scorers – certainly helped. Rocci (17 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds) was the standout, though she and George (seven points, nine rebounds, seven assists, four steals and four blocks) both came close to triple-doubles despite the latter not technically getting a double-double.

Third Southside Opal Isabelle Bourne (14 points, five rebounds) was also handy, as were a pair off the bench in Makenna Marisa (10 points, seven rebounds and two assists) and Manuela Puoch (15 points, five rebounds). Clean guard Haley Peters‘ 13 points, three rebounds and three steals provided a handy two-way edge as well.

For the Lightning, other than Talbot, import Sania Feagin was key with 11 points and nine rebounds – though also six turnovers – while Dallas Loughridge (11 points, six rebounds and four assists) and Tayla Brazel (13 points, three steals) had their moments throughout the match.

Southside Melbourne Flyers do not have to wait long for their first match, travelling up to Sydney tomorrow to tackle the Flames in what is a massive finals-defining contest. Adelaide Lightning wait until the new year where they face Perth Lynx on the road and then Townsville Fire at home in what is a tough week for the finals aspirants.