in Match Reports

Fever defeated in top of the table clash

12 APR 2022

West Coast Fever were unable to match the Melbourne Vixens on their home court as the only two undefeated teams heading into Round 4 went head-to-head for top spot on the ladder.

The Vixens came out firing with 23 points in the opening quarter and despite Fever fighting their way back into the contest to level the scores in the second term, the Vixens continued applying intense pressure and won the next two quarters to run out 75-66 winners.

Key Moments

It was a Suncorp Super Shot shoot-out, with the Vixens scoring 8 from 11 attempts and Fever 7 from 14. Three straight from Vixens shooter Kiera Austin in the first quarter followed by another three from Rahni Samason in the second helped the home side establish an early lead and the Fever were unable to recover, with four of Glasgow’s successful Super Shots coming late in the fourth quarter when the margin was beyond reach.

Quarter By Quarter

1st – WCF 17 | VIX 23

Fever were first to score and forced an early turnover to go 3-0 up before Austin replied for the Vixens and combined well with Mwai Kumwenda to put the home side ahead by 2 points heading into the power five. A Glasgow Super Shot reinstated the deadlock before Austin responded with three of her own to put the Vixens in front by 6 at quarter time. Jhaniele Fowler was forced to fight her way through a double-team in defence but still contributed 14 goals for the quarter.

2nd – WCF 19 | VIX 18

Fever continued applying strong pressure to reduce the margin to three points, with Stacey Francis-Bayman entering the game at Goal Defence to bring fresh energy to the contest. Olivia Lewis did likewise for Vixens as she came on at Goal Keeper but Fever kept pushing hard and levelled the scores before moving 2 points ahead with three minutes remaining. Samason’s injection in the dying minutes had a big impact for the Vixens, with the specialist shooter scoring three Super Shots to put her side back in front by 5 points 41-36.

3rd – WCF 13 | VIX 16

The intensity continued with a deflection by Courtney Bruce five minutes into the third term a highlight for Fever as they fought hard to narrow the margin. Cosh entered the game at Goal Attack halfway through the quarter and scored a great long-range goal, but Vixens were able to maintain their advantage and push ahead in power time. Glasgow scored a Super Shot from a penalty on the three-quarter-time whistle to bring the margin back to 8 points at the last break 57-49.

4th – WCF 17 | VIX 18

Fever continued fighting hard in the fourth and restructured across the court, with Rudi Ellis coming on at Goal Keeper, Bruce moving to Goal Defence, Aryang to Wing Defence, Jess Anstiss to Centre, Verity Simmons to Wing Attack and Teague-Neeld to Goal Attack. However, the Vixens maintained control and as Fever took more risks to try and get back into the contest, turnovers increased and so did the margin. Four late Super Shots to Glasgow helped peg the Vixens lead back to 9 points.

Final – WCF 66 | VIX 75