IT may not have been the result her side was after, but Unique Thompson went down swinging as the Albury-Wodonga Bandits fell to the Sutherland Sharks to the tune of nine points at Lauren Jackson Sports Centre on Saturday night.

It was always going to be tougher for the Bandits after losing superstar Lauren Jackson to Olympic duties, and with the Sharks coming off a win the week prior (unlike Albury-Wodonga), an upset was potentially on the cards.

However, the Bandits did have home court advantage and had been the best side of the 2024 season, so they still had enough tools to advance to the preliminary finals.

It was not an ideal start for the home side, who found themselves trailing by 12 at the first change after Sutherland brought in momentum from last week’s victory to jump out to an early lead.

Although the Bandits managed to tighten things up defensively as the game rolled on, they lacked the game-breaking run that would have evened up the score, and instead found their season ending earlier than most expected.

Despite the result, Thompson was a force of nature and nearly single-handedly dragged her side over the line with an enormous showing.

Albury-Wodonga Bandits (74) def. by Sutherland Sharks (83)

Unique Thompson – 40 points, 26 rebounds, one assist, three steals

In Jackson’s absence, Thompson posted a statline that reflected the usual dominance of her star teammate, stepping up in several ways to produce some huge numbers.

Obviously, she was the Bandits’ leading scorer, accounting for 40 of the team’s 74 points in remarkable fashion, as her teammates looked to get the ball in her hands at all times, given she was the most likely to find the bottom of the net.

From the field, she shot 16/38, with all of those makes coming from inside the arc. She found space close to the basket and made the defence pay for not keeping a body on her at all times. Thompson was deadly on the drive and absorbed plenty of contact from the defence in the process. She also made eight of her nine attempts from the charity stripe, further boosting her team’s score.

On the boards she was just as impactful, pulling down 26 of Albury-Wodonga’s 54 rebounds as a team, proving a premier presence on the glass. The opposition simply could not box her out, using strength and reach to get first hands on the ball. A whopping 10 offensive rebounds resulted in second chance scoring opportunities and helped keep the Bandits in the game.

It was an extremely emphatic performance from Thompson, who did all she could to keep the Bandits rolling in an elimination final.