ANZ Championship Match Reports

West Coast Fever (62) defeat Mercury Energy Tactix (42)

West Coast Fever wrote a new page in their ANZ Championship history, with a record 62-44 win over the Mercury Energy Tactix in front of a thrilled Perth crowd tonight.

Fever’s biggest winning margin was previously 11 – over LG Mystics last year - but the West Coasters just fell short of equalling their highest score in three seasons (previously 67 against the NSW Swifts). Goal shoot Caitlin Bassett also reached a new high, scoring 45 goals - the most of the season so far – before being benched.

But records aside, the unified Fever impressed on both attack and defence in their first win of the season, paying their visitors little welcome.

Fever captain Jo Curran, who played a vital role in shutting down Tactix’ shooting circle, said the victory was also provided the ideal chance to get all 12 players on court.

“It was amazing tonight – it was great to get on the board and especially in a style like that.
It just showed the depth of this group - we’ve got something special,” she said.

It wasn’t always one-way traffic. Fever had to fight hard to open the scoring, with Bassett trying to find her footing next to dogged Tactix goal keep Charlotte Kight. At the other end, Tactix goal shoot Ellen Halpenny needed eyes in the back of her head to keep tabs on rangy defender, Susan Fuhrmann, who had an 11cm height advantage.

Little separated the two young sides for much of the quarter, until wing defence Andrea Gilmore felt comfortable enough to fire the long ball into Bassett, turning on an unanswered flow of seven goals that put the Fever into a commanding 15-8 lead at the first break.

The difference in those early scores also reflected the shooting statistics – almost perfect from Fever’s prolific Bassett and Leah Shoard, while Halpenny and Anna Thompson only managed to slot two-thirds of their fewer attempts.

Heavy defensive pressure from Fever forced Tactix into relinquishing too much possession to keep them competitive – the gap growing to 10 goals five minutes into the next quarter.

Shoard, who spent most of last season on the bench at Southern Steel, went some way to answering Fever’s goal attack conundrum, ably supporting Bassett with her dynamic approach to the hoop.

With the score 31-19 in Fever’s favour, Tactix suffered more anguish when captain Maree Bowden hobbled off court at halftime with a dodgy ankle. But with the rest, Bowden returned to the game to ensure a level head was leading Tactix’ desperate attempt to claw back the growing deficit.

Fever coach Jane Searle took the opportunity to rest Fuhrmann and give Josie Janz a run at goal keep. Sporting a black eye from last week’s loss to Steel, Gilmore made life increasingly difficult for young Tactix wing attack Chelsea Pitman, while Shae Bolton at centre did her best to rattle her opposite, Bowden.

Just before three-quarter time, with Fever leading by 20, and Shoard retiring with a niggling knee, Searle further flummoxed the Tactix by adding more height to her shooting circle in the form of 1.92m Janelle Lawson, back home after two years with Queensland Firebirds.

Both coaches decided to make more changes to their line-ups, including taking Bassett off when she had shot 45 from 52, and Tactix bringing on the wise head of former Silver Fern Anna Galvan in defence. The visitors’ reshuffle gave them a renewed intensity, to win the quarter 14-12, with shooters Halpenny and Thompson finishing with their shooting percentages in the high-70s. But the damage had long been done.

Fever shooting statistics
Caitlin Bassett 45/52 (87%)
Janelle Lawson 7/13 (54%)
Leah Shoard 8/12 (67%)
Ashleigh Neal 2/3 (67%)


Tactix shooting statistics
Ellen Halpenny 24/31 (77%)
Anna Thompson 20/26 (77%)
MAGIC DEFEAT STEEL



Waikato / Bay of Plenty Magic (47) defeated Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel (41)

The Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic went a long way towards exonerating themselves from their sketchy start to the season with a come-from-behind victory over traditionally fierce rivals Southern Steel in Rotorua tonight. Although the visitors from the south led for much of the match, it was Magic who ultimately took control of the game, winning 47-41, and making it six wins from their last six games at Rotorua’s Energy Events Centre.

Magic captain Laura Langman said the whole game was “a grind” but the team finally showed signs of the form they’re renowned for in the last stages of the match – making a noticeable improvement on their patchy performance against the Melbourne Vixens a week ago. “It was those connections and links that were a little bit loose [last week] and at the start of the game they were probably still there. But we blew those cobwebs out and finished really strongly so we’re really happy,” she said.

One of the stars of the night, however, was in the opposition - young goal shoot Julianna Naoupu stepping into the breach and leading the shooting of the night, with 29 from 34, keeping Steel in the hunt until the final minutes. Steel started on the back foot, losing key shooter Daneka Wipiiti to a knee injury suffered in their opening game with the Fever. But coach Robyn Broughton saw the positive in the loss, giving the chance to a young player to shine, like 20-year-old Naoupu. Last year, Naoupu got to see just two quarters of action in the ANZ Championship, but last night she stepped on court like she had been a starting regular for all three years she’s been in the Steel squad. Naoupu made her mark early, sidestepping Silver Ferns captain and Magic goal keep Casey Williams to own the Steel shooting circle from the first whistle, well supported by the evergreen goal attack Megan Dehn.

Magic, helped in no small way by the midcourt marshalled by veteran Peta Scholz, looked a more confident team than in the previous week when they couldn’t maintain the pace with the Vixens. Magic coach Noeline Taurua started with her premier line-up, which she intended to finish the match win - the experienced shooting duo of Irene van Dyk and Jodi Brown initially solid under the post taking Magic to an early advantage on the scoreboard.

But it was Naoupu, fed a sneaky behind-the-post pass by Liana Barrett-Chase, who sunk a goal in the final second of the first quarter to give Steel a 15-13 lead. Broughton had demanded better possession from her team during the week, and in the first half, they mostly delivered, managing to find the hands of their team-mates and snaffling any Magic passes that were slightly off-target. And those were more often than Taurua would have liked. In the process Steel strengthened their lead to five goals soon into the second spell.

After an injury time-out called by the Magic, the home side returned to the court with more urgency and closed back within two. Van Dyk and Brown had to wrestle for control of the shooting circle from former Magic defender Leana de Bruin, at goal keep for Steel, and goal defence Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit. A precision intercept by Magic goal defence Jodi Tod turned the tables for the Magic, tying up the scores with two minutes left in the half, and only a held-ball call against Brown denied the Waikato-Bay of Plenty side the lead; Steel ahead 24-23 at halftime.

Both sides stuck with their starting line-ups in the third quarter, with Taurua asking Magic for more commitment on defence and better possession of the ball on attack. And it was a much more driven and resolute Magic who took the court, finding van Dyk with more certainty, and scoring four in a row to regain the lead. But they were still guilty of taking their eye off the ball in the last couple of minutes, letting Steel reel them back in to 33-30 going into the final spell.

De Bruin, four months after having her first child, was in spellbinding form, forcing van Dyk out of her comfort zone. De Bruin was joined by the team physio and former Southern Sting defender Jenny Ferguson at goal defence – travelling north with the side to make up numbers - for the last quarter. New blood in the defence helped Steel to draw even once again, and it was a see-saw battle for supremacy for an exhausting 12 minutes. But it was ultimately the pressure of Scholz, who spent a long night in combat with Barrett-Chase, and an unflagging Williams that allowed Magic to wriggle free from the Southerners’ cloying hold.


Magic shooting statistics
Irene van Dyk 27/30 (90%)
Jodi Brown 20/24 (83%)

Steel shooting statistics
Megan Dehn 12 /14 (86%)
Julianna Naoupu 29 /34 (85%)