Alicia Froling and Anneli Maley foul out in fiery WNBL contest between Townsville and Perth
Townsville has claimed victory in a physical battle in Perth as captains of both teams fouled out. Catch up on the game and read why Perth coach Ryan Petrik said his team was “beaten up.”
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Townsville has taken revenge on the Perth Lynx for last year’s semi-final heartache, holding on for a thrilling 84-80 victory in Western Australia.
The Fire led at every quarter but the win was far from comfortable as Perth kept within reach of an unlikely comeback through superior three-point shooting, making half of their 26 attempts from beyond the arc as Miela Sowah drained four bombs on her way to a team-high 21 points.
However shooting just 16/41 of their two-point attempts and a shocking 9/18 from the free-throw line cost Perth dearly.
Townsville skipper Alicia Froling had a fiery individual battle with Perth captain Anneli Maley throughout the contest, with both forwards ultimately fouling out in the fourth quarter.
Froling said the victory was all the sweeter for the more than 4,500km of travel each way.
“It’s a good venue to play in and it’s always fun to beat Perth,” Froling said.
“It’s the second game of the season and for us to still find a way to win is pretty cool and shows we can be a pretty special group when we get things going the right way.”
The Fire leant on the experience of their longest-tenured player Courtney Woods, who barely took a break during a dominant performance.
Woods played just shy of 37 minutes and was a constant threat with the ball in hand, scoring a game-high 25 points with her wide arsenal of shots and ability to get under the rim.
While Woods was the Fire’s most effective player, co-captain Froling was the most efficient with an unbelievable 11/13 shooting from the field to match Woods on 25 points.
Froling completed her double-double with 10 rebounds before collecting her fifth foul of the night late in the final term.
Townsville dominated the rebound count, particularly in offence, which Perth coach Ryan Petrik put down to better on-court energy.
“I thought we did a really poor job with some simple stuff,” Petrik said.
“We got manhandled on the glass, we just got beaten up. At halftime our leading rebounder was Anneli Maley with two – that’s just wild.
“You look at our roster and we’ve got some really good rebounders. Of the 36 shots that were available on their misses, they got back 17 of them and we only good 19.
“That’s a horrible percentage, normally you want to rebound at around 27 per cent offensively. We went at 24 per cent but they went nearly 50. That’s just effort.”
Texan import Lauren Cox was outstanding for the Fire in attack and defence, making a game-high four blocks for the second consecutive game while contributing 18 points to Townsville’s tally.
Zia Cooke had a more limited involvement in her second game, while Saffron Shiels was eased back from her adductor injury with five minutes off the pine.
The Fire have an extended break to recover from the WNBL’s longest away trip before playing their home-opener in Townsville on Saturday, November 16, against Sami Whitcomb’s Bendigo Spirit. Tip-off is at 7.30pm.
AUSTRALIA’S FASTEST BASKETBALL TEAM: FIRE BRACING FOR BREAKNECK SPEED TEST
WNBL master coach Shannon Seebohm is bracing his Townsville Fire team for a track meet in Perth against Australia’s fastest basketball team, male or female.
The four-time coach of the year said not even NBL teams were matching the breakneck attacking tempo of the Lynx, following their round one victory over reigning champions Southside 94-79 in Perth.
The Fire and Lynx are two of four unbeaten teams left in the competition but Seebohm is adamant his side can nullify Perth’s greatest strength and defend its way to a win in the west.
“We have to defend Perth,” Seebohm said.
“They are very different to a lot of the other teams in our league … they play extremely fast so transition defence is key.
“They’re very high-tempo. They play a faster pace than even men’s NBL teams do, so it’s lightning quick.
“They run a bit of structure, but not a whole lot. It’s more ‘create an open shot and shoot the ball.’
“We need to be locked into that. Making sure we take good shots and making sure our pick-up points are good up the floor, so they can’t just run into offence every time.”
Lynx recruit Ally Wilson will be a strong contender in the race for WNBL recruit of the year if she can maintain the rage displayed in her club debut against Southside.
The former Bendigo guard, who represented Australia in 3v3 basketball at the Paris Olympics, scored 17 points and assisted on eight scoring shots in Saturday’s grand final rematch.
Wilson was a member of Townsville’s first championship team in 2014/15, where she trained alongside a young development player – Alicia Froling – before they reunited as teammates in Bendigo.
Seebohm warned that Wilson would require special defensive attention, and Froling, Townsville’s newest captain, is well-placed to provide it.
“Ally Wilson was phenomenal the other night,” he said.
“It’s her first year in Perth after coming from Bendigo so she’s a danger player … (but) they’ve got a lot.
“Miela Sowah (nee Goodchild) is always dangerous and Anneli Maley is obviously one of the best players in the league.
“They’ve got a new import as well (Atlanta Dream forward Laeticia Amihere) who got in foul trouble the other day so we haven’t really seen what she can do.
“They’re loaded with weapons, they’ve got shooters coming off their bench and there’s a reason they were in the grand final last year.
“They are a dangerous team and they’ve got a lot of talent.”
FIRE CONFIRM SHIELS AVAILABILITY
WNBL young gun Saffron Shiels will travel to Perth with the Fire after she was ruled out of Townsville’s season-opening triumph over Geelong United last week.
Shiels was sidelined by an adductor injury which has limited her involvement throughout the pre-season but club officials have given the 18-year-old the green light to fly with the side.
Whether she will suit up on Wednesday night and what that could mean for Townsville coach Shannon Seebohm’s guard rotation is yet to be determined.
Veteran recruit Lauren Mansfield led the Fire in minutes in round 1, with strong contributions from star import Zia Cooke, Abbey Ellis and Nya Lok – however Shiels offers something none of Townsville’s other six guards can.
Listed at 188cm, Shiels is the tallest of 55 guards in the WNBL (equal with Issy Borlase and Taylor Mole), making her a nightmare for opponents to match up against.
Seebohm said his selection headache was a good one to have as he struggled to work out where Shiels would fit into the team.
“She obviously missed a lot of pre-season so we’ll see what her role looks like early on but she’s looked pretty good at practice this week so hopefully we can get her a few minutes and see what she can do,” Seebohm said.
“Nya (Lok) came in and played really well the other day as a rookie. We’ve got a lot of guards this year that can come in and contribute, and they all bring something slightly different.
“So I don’t know where the minutes (for Shiels) will come from. I’ll have to really have a think about that in the next couple of days. But it’s good to have Saf back out there and back with the team.
“She’s unique in her size as a guard, her ability to handle the ball and the skills that she has with that size and length, so she’s a matchup problem for other teams.
“I think she’ll take a little while to fully get her rhythm and get her confidence and everything, but we’re expecting her to have a much bigger year than last year.”
Returning for her second full season in Australia’s top women’s league, Shiels said it was difficult missing out on the first away trip with her teammates.
“I was definitely a bit upset, but injuries happen and there’s nothing you can do about it,” Shiels said.
“It’s all good now, there’s nothing to worry about (injury-wise).
“Wherever I can slot in, I’ll be happy with whatever.”
The rising basketball star said she was impressed by her new teammates’ performances against Geelong.
“I thought they played really hard. We moved the ball a lot and it was really fun to watch,” Shiels said.
“They play a really good style of basketball.”
Townsville is set to play the Perth Lynx on Wednesday night, tip-off is at 5.30pm AEST.
Originally published as Alicia Froling and Anneli Maley foul out in fiery WNBL contest between Townsville and Perth
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