WEST Coast Fever have bounced back from last week’s shock loss in the best way they could, defeating the Adelaide Thunderbirds 60-51.

It was goal for goal early, but the Fever did not look like the confident team fans have come to expect. It was the Thunderbirds who built the first lead of the game, but it didn’t last long as the Fever eliminated the lead and took it for themselves. The built a handy buffer for themselves in the second half of the quarter and took a three goal lead into the first break.

Emma Cosh certainly made the most of her opportunity to start at goal attack in the first term, shooting at 100 per cent for the quarter. Meanwhile for the Thunderbirds, they were regularly using long passes into their shooting circle, which was catching the Fever defenders off guard.

The Fever continued to be the more dominant side in the second term, extending their lead out to as much as eight goals before the power five period. Although the exact margin seesawed a little during the power five, Fever were still scoring far too easily and they took a nine goal lead into the main break.

The Thunderbirds got the better start in the third term, but they could not maintain it as the Fever reinstated their half time lead and grew it even more.   The Fever continued to dominate as the term progressed and the lead grew even more as a consequence of that.

Despite Georgie Horjus finding her range from Super Shot zone, the Thunderbirds just could not bridge the gap as the Fever took a 13-goal lead into the last change. The Thunderbirds got a bit of run on in the opening half of the final term, and brought the gap back to only eight goals.

They managed to get some momentum during the power five and bring the margin even lower to just six goals.    The Fever had done enough work earlier on though, and they had built a margin that was ultimately too big to bring back, and they nabbed a well deserved win.

For the Fever, Jhaniele Fowler was again exceptional in front of goal, scoring all bar 10 of her team’s goals. The likes of Cosh and Verity Simmons also had great games.

Meanwhile for the Thunderbirds, Lenize Potgieter shot very well, while Shamera Sterling had another brilliant game, racking up more than half of her team’s intercepts alone.

Next week sees the Fever at home playing host to the Magpies, while the Thunderbirds are on the road to Queensland to face the Lightning.

ADELAIDE THUNDERBIRDS 13 | 12 | 12 | 14 (51)
WEST COAST FEVER 16 | 18 | 16 | 10 (60)

STARTING SEVENS

Adelaide Thunderbirds:

GS: Lenize Potgeiter
GA: Georgie Horjus
WA: Elle McDonald
C: Maisie Nankivell
WD: Hannah Petty
GD: Matilda Garrett
GK: Shamera Sterling

West Coast Fever:

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