IT was a huge encounter between the Sunshine Coast Lightning and West Coast Fever on Saturday night, with the two undefeated sides coming in hot and not relenting throughout a tough match which saw plenty of bodies hit the floor. Whilst both teams had their moments, it was the Fever that fought through a sloppy start to dominate the remainder of the contest, winning 69-54 and sweeping away their 12-point ladder deficit in the process with a third straight win on the board.

it was all Lightning in the first, speeding out of the blocks as Cara Koenen took on Courtney Bruce and did not appear to skip a beat. The Lightning’s excellent drive down court and vision on the feed paid off in spades as Laura Scherian was quick to capture her match-winning ways, with penalties already appearing rack up against the Fever. Koenen’s footwork and Steph Wood‘s assistance saw the Lightning slowly but surely gain an advantage throughout the quarter credit to the work rate of Phumza Maweni blocking vision and forcing hesitation on the feed into Jhaniele Fowler, with a 15-9 lead the way of the home side forcing Alice Teague-Neeld into a missed super shot attempt. A suer shot to Wood and three straight from Koenen finished off an excellent 21-12 opening quarter.

But it all changed as the Fever came out hunting in the second, going on two strings of five goals early to whittle the Lightning’s lead down to nil by the nine-minute mark of the term, giving the side a fresh look at the remainder of the term and putting the Lightning on the back foot. Where Fowler lacked ball into the circle in the first, they had no issue finding the Jamaican tall timber as Verity Charles stepped up and started working her magic on circle edge. Where Mahalia Cassidy dominated on Charles early and Maddy McAuliffe had her way over Emma Cosh, the two Fever attackers starred in the side’s pursuit for a lead, limiting the Lighting to 10 goals and heading into the main break with a single goal lead, 31-30.

It took another huge third term for the Fever to clean up the Lightning defence, as the Lightning had no answers for Fowler at the post. Sasha Glasgow‘s extra impact and reliability allowed Fever to open up the scores further, whilst at the other end there was nothing in the way of Bruce as the goal keeper wreaked havoc out the front of a new-look goal circle of Wood and Peace Proscovia. Where Lightning hoped for Proscovia’s entry to provide a taller and stronger option at the post, the holding goaler was unable to have the desired effect as Stacey Francis and Bruce wreaked havoc before the Lightning could even enter the circle. It was turnovers galore for the home side as things fell apart, registering seven for the quarter, as impatience and a couple of held ball calls allowed the Fever to extend to an eight-goal lead at the final change, 50-42.

A huge final quarter was do or die for the home side, although it appeared to be the Fever once again in control as the Lightning continued to ring in the changes. Whilst Scherian had been dangerous early Jess Anstiss worked her magic and forced the change as Binnian Hunt took the court for the first time this season with Scherian bumped to centre, while Kate Shimmin‘s minor impact in the third saw her take the goal defence bib to start the term as Karla Pretorius was moved out to wing defence to limit Cosh’s impact. Continued hesitance on the feed into the circle was down to the excellent defensive workrate from Bruce and Francis, who confused space well and forced errors, whilst it was Fever that was lightning-quick down the court transitioning with speed out of defence. Desperate defensive efforts from the Lightning were not enough as the side struggled to negate Fowler, while scoring woes at the other end saw the Fever hold the Lightning at an arm’s length to finish. Bodies continued to hit the floor with neither side willing to relent, as the Fever ran out victors 69-54.

Player of the match deservedly went to Bruce, who piled on five intercepts after a quiet first quarter to turn the tables and Charles (23 goal assists) and Cosh (20) had little issue finding Fowler at the post, seeing Fowler (59 goals from 61 attempts) star at the other end. For the Lightning, Koenen’s 28 goals were critical as Wood’s inaccuracy hurt, shooting 16 goals at 73 per cent (one super shot from five). Scherian’s 21 assists were influential asProscovia piled on nine from nine during her time on court, while Hunt was the only player to register an intercept for the match with just 15 minutes to her name, registering two as Pretorius, Maweni and Shimmin struggled to get hands to clean ball, with just one gain between them.

SUNSHINE COAST LIGHTNING 21 | 10 | 12 | 11 (54)
WEST COAST FEVER 12 | 19 | 21 | 17 (69)

STARTING SEVEN

Lightning:

GS: Cara Koenen
GA: Steph Wood
WA: Laura Scherian
C: Mahalia Cassidy
WD: Maddy McAuliffe
GD: Karla Pretorius
GK: Phumza Maweni

Fever:

GS: Jhaniele Fowler
GA: Alice Teague-Neeld
WA: Emma Cosh
C: Verity Charles
WD: Jess Anstiss
GD: Sunday Aryang
GK: Courtney Bruce

Picture credit: West Coast Fever