West Coast Fever claimed a hard-fought win over NSW Swifts in their first home game at RAC Arena since 2019, fighting back from a four-goal deficit in the first quarter to run out 63-55 winners.
Feverish defence in the final quarter highlighted by a Courtney Bruce intercept and two forced turnovers by Jess Anstiss, saw Jhaniele Fowler convert at the other end, capped off with a super-shot to seal the win to the delight of the 4927 Green Army fans in attendance.
Fever coach Stacey Marinkovich paid tribute to her players and said the final margin wasn’t a true reflection of the intensity and ferocity of the game.
“Swifts are a polished outfit and they had a lot of variation that they went to and I was just really proud of the girls, that whilst we didn’t execute well in parts of the game, we held in there when it mattered most and dug deep.”
“To do it under that intensity and that pressure, there was physical contest on the ball, Swifts were adapting the way that they were defending, and I think we’re reading moments better and adjusting and attacking it rather than just trying to grind our way through it.”
It was an anxious start for the Fever in their first home game in 630 days and a turnover off the first centre pass saw Swifts Goal Shooter Sam Wallace score her first of 11 for the quarter, leading the visitors to a four-goal advantage at quarter time.
Swifts maintained their tight defence in the second term but Fever found a way through, with Fowler scoring three consecutive goals to reduce the margin to 19-22 before a timeout.
Marinkovich switched up the structure with Anstiss moving into Centre and Francis-Bayman to Wing Defence and the margin was reduced further to 26-28 at Half Time.
Emma Cosh continued her pivotal role at Wing Attack in the third term, feeding Fowler on her way to a game-high 22 goal assists.
Sasha Glasgow entered the game and added to the dynamic in attack, scoring a super-shot to put the Fever up 41-40.
Both sides continued to trade blows in the final quarter and when Bruce intercepted with Swifts up 55-54, Fowler converted at the other end to level the scores at 55-all.
With the Swifts up by one as the power five minutes commenced, repeated defensive efforts from Anstiss forced turnovers, allowing Fever to push ahead before Fowler sealed the result with a super shot.
