West Coast Fever recorded a convincing 78-55 win over Collingwood Magpies in Round 6 of the Suncorp Super Netball season to maintain their unbeaten record with an impressive display from every player across the court.
Captain Courtney Bruce led by example with 11 gains, 7 deflections and five intercepts to be named player of the match, while Jhaniele Fowler scored 59 goals at 98 per cent accuracy, Sasha Glasgow contributed 5 Suncorp super-shots and Alice Teague-Neeld added two.
Jess Anstiss and Verity Charles both spent time at Centre and combined for 41 goal assists, while Sunday Aryang and Stacey Francis-Bayman turned defence into attack with 5 and 2 gains respectively.
Fever addressed their slow starts in recent weeks with a new-look starting line-up featuring Glasgow at Goal Attack and built an early lead with slick ball movement and accurate finishing to hold a 10-goal advantage at quarter time.
They continued applying the pressure in the second quarter, forcing the Magpies wide and long as Bruce, Aryang and Francis-Bayman disrupted opposition entries to attack time and time again.
At the other end of the court, Glasgow formed a potent combination with Fowler, while Anstiss and Charles controlled the ball through the mid-court as Fever extended their lead to 44-25 at half time.
Magpies came out firing in the third term with Ash Brazill moving into Centre and managed to control more of the play through the mid-court and wrestle their way back into the contest by reducing Fever’s lead to 14 goals before the final quarter 59-45.
Magpies continued fighting hard to start the fourth quarter, forcing Fever to work for every possession and goal. Alice Teague-Neeld, Emma Cosh and Olivia Lewis entered the contest and gave Fever fresh legs to maintain their advantage.
Leading by 18 goals, Fowler was rested in the final minutes, allowing Glasgow and Teague-Neeld to combine in the circle and demonstrate they can be a dynamic attacking duo to seal the 23-goal win.
Glasgow said it was a great feeling to be in the starting seven for the game and record another victory with her new team.
“Yeah, obviously I was rapt with the start but I mean Alice is super capable too and J (Jhaniele) is supporting both of us at the moment, so whoever is in that role, we are just working through it.
“I am loving Perth as a place in general, I’m feeling really valued, really supported and I think for me I had a lot of different aspects of my game that I needed to work on and Stacey is really honest about that too.
“We have a really good culture, we have got something really strong building out in Perth and I’m just loving it, getting around the girls. It’s awesome.”
Sasha Glasgow