West Coast hits Fever pitch to set up battle out east
THE West Coast Fever have kept their 2024 Suncorp Super Netball alive after defeating the Sunshine Coast Lightning by 10 goals in yesterday’s Minor Semi Final.
WEST COAST FEVER 16 | 20 | 18 | 18 (72)
SUNSHINE COAST LIGHTNING 18 | 17 | 12 | 15 (62)
It was the Lightning who actually led at quarter time, before the Fever wrestled the lead from the Lightning at the end of the second term. The Fever also dominated the start of the third term, which set them up for their victory. So much so that the Lightning did not lead again after the 14 minute mark of the second term.
There were a number of key stat areas that the Fever did significantly better in than their visitors did, which proved pivotal in determining the result.
Despite only having four percent more time in possession, the Fever dominated the gains, recording double the number of gains that the Lightning did. The Fever also did significantly better than the Lightning in the centre pass to goal rate (83 per cent to 73 per cent), and dominated the gain to goal rate (86 per cent to 57 per cent).
Shooting accuracy was another category the Fever dominated.
The Fever shooters only missed five shots between them to give the side a shooting accuracy of almost 93 and a half percent. This is in stark contrast to the Lightning, who only recorded a 70% accuracy..
This was spearheaded by a dominant performance from birthday girl Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard, who shot 67 goals in another huge performance. Alice Teague-Neeld also had a massive game, finishing with 43 feeds and 25 assists in a stellar performance.
On the other side of the equation, Teague-Neeld’s Lightning counterpart Liz Watson also recorded some massive numbers, finishing with a whopping 58 feeds and 21 assists. She was ably assisted by Leesa Mi Mi, who also finished with some big numbers of her own (43 feeds, 19 assists, one gain, one intercept).
The Fever’s win sees them move on to face the Vixens in next week’s Preliminary Final, while for the Lightning their much improved 2024 season is over.