THE top of the table clash was one to remember for the Melbourne Vixens, as they emerged victorious 70-64 over the West Coast Fever.

The Vixens got a huge jump on their hosts early, and that is what ultimately cost the Fever the game.

Melbourne came out firing early, and certainly made a statement. They were out to a strong lead early, as much as seven goals within the first five minutes.  

The Fever began to warm up into the game, but the Vixens continued to dominate. They made it look so easy as they came down the court, and were able to stretch their lead out to as much as 10 goals in the back half of the term.

At the first change though, the margin sat at nine with the Fever having a lot to think about in order to get back in the match.

A very different Fever outfit took to the court in the second term. Their defensive pressure was up, causing the Vixens to make mistakes and their shooters were benefitting.

They slowly chipped away at the margin and although at half time the margin still sat at eight goals in favour of the Vixens, the Fever definitely won the quarter in terms of scoring and general play.

For much of the third term the Fever struggled to make much of an inroad into the Vixen’s lead. It felt like a fairly even quarter and the Vixens were not really blowing them out of the park, but the lead did stretch out to as much as ten goals during the quarter.

A late run from the Fever did see them halve the margin, and as the teams turned for home the margin was five goals and history was potentially about to repeat itself.

The fourth quarter was very even, with both teams trading blows in the final term.

The Fever struggled to plug back the Vixen lead, and time was certainly not their friend in the end.

In the end the Vixens ran out six goal winners, but also took top place back from the Fever and are now a game clear ahead of everyone else.

For the Vixens, Olivia Lewis’ inside knowledge of her old side paid dividends for the Vixens, as her work to keep Jhaniele Fowler quiet early set her side up well to take the win.

Liz Watson was also a workhorse through the midcourt, played the whole game in centre and finished with 51 feeds and 30 goal assists.

Meanwhile for the Fever, Sasha Glasgow was very accurate but did not get many opportunities to really make an influence.

Next week sees the Vixens back at home to face the Swifts, while the Fever will also be staying home to host the GIANTS.

WEST COAST FEVER        14 | 15 | 18 | 17 (64)
MELBOURNE VIXENS       23 | 14 | 15 | 18 (70)

STARTING SEVENS

West Coast Fever

GS: Jhaniele Fowler
GA: Sasha Glasgow
WA: Alice Teague-Neeld
C: Verity Simmons
WD: Stacey Francis-Bayman
GD: Sunday Aryang
GK: Courtney Bruce

Melbourne Vixens

GS: Mwai Kumwenda
GA: Kiera Austin
WA: Hannah Mundy
C: Liz Watson
WD: Kate Moloney
GD: Jo Weston
GK: Olivia Lewis