West Coast Fever held off a late fightback from the Magpies in the final seconds to win a thrilling fourth round game 63-62 at Nissan Arena.
In mid-courter Verity Charles’ 100th game, the win did not come easily for the Fever outfit. Captain Courtney Bruce returned to the court in the second half after missing two games with a back injury and her defensive pressure in the dying seconds of the game claimed their second victory for the season.
“I’m feeling 100 per cent, it’s great to be out there, it’s great that I had the pleasure of coming on after Olivia (Lewis) who really set the game up and let me have a crack out there.” Bruce said.
In true Fever fashion they started out well in the first quarter taking a 21-11 lead. Jhaniele Fowler led from the front with 20 goals including one Suncorp super shot, despite a lot of pressure from goal-keeper Geva Mentor. Fowler finished the game with 55 goals and eight rebounds.
Alice Teague-Neeld's (19 goal assists, 27 feeds) efforts to draw Magpies’ defenders away from Fowler worked well in the first quarter, however Magpies’ efforts and pressure saw them win the second quarter.
Fever’s mid-court effort was instrumental, with Verity Charles (28 feeds) and Ingrid Colyer (31 feeds) working together to drive the forward pressure.
Fever Head Coach Stacey Marinkovich said: "Our mid-court work really hard, they are relentless in what they do and they deliver some really good ball."
"We score a lot of goals and the only way the shooters can get it is obviously through the middle, they are real team players, they rotate really well. They might not get the accolades and recognised by others, but they are certainly an important ingredient to how we want to move the ball." Marinkovich said.
The third quarter again proved costly for Fever who are yet to win the quarter this season, but unlike previous games they hung on to take a four-goal lead into the last term, courtesy of Kaylia Stanton who scored two back-to-back super shots.
Magpies goal shooter Shimona Nelson finished the game with 47 goals including 1 super shot, Gabrielle Sinclaire finished with 15 goals including three super-shots and 14 goal assists.
