Sydney Uni Flames topple WNBL leaders Bendigo Spirit, Perth beat Fire in grand final rematch

WHAT a round. What a result by the Sydney Uni Flames and Perth Lynx. Our five minute wrap of the WNBL.

Jennifier Hamson returned to the court for the Flames and made an instant impact.

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WHAT a round. What a result by the Sydney Uni Flames.

The club hit by a series of injuries pre-season is showing they can be a real contender this season after downing Bendigo Spirit who lead the competition going into round eight.

The results saw Bendigo drop down the ladder and Dandenong take over leadership.

In the grand final rematch a new storyline was written.

Defending champions Townsville Fire will have to go without a win for yet another week after Perth Lynx beat them in a thriller.

Here’s our five minute wrap for round eight of the WNBL and what lies ahead.

Jennifier Hamson gets a shot blocked by Marianna Tolo during a game earlier this season. She is now back from injury.

FLAMES TAKE THE POINTS IN OVERTIME THRILLER

Sydney Uni Flames 93 (L. Mitchell 18pts, 11asts) d Bendigo Spirit 86 (K. Griffin 27pts, 10rebs).

Another round, another overtime thriller for the Sydney Uni Flames. But this time they were the team who took the points, downing Bendigo for the second time this season.

The Flames did what they do best — shared the scoring round with three of their players in double figures in the match — Leilani Mitchell (18 points, 11 assists), Jennifer Hamson (17 points, 10 rebounds) and Asia Taylor (16 points, 10 rebounds).

Leilani Mitchell and her Flames teammates will get a second shot at the Canberra capitals next week.

WNBL RD 8: THE NUMBERS GAME

IMPORT EARNS ANOTHER AWARD

PERTH DOUSE FIRE IN GRAND FINAL REMATCH

Perth Lynx 89 (A. Edmondson 18pts, 11asts) d Townsville Fire 85 (K. Standish 24pts, 12rebs).

Townsville Fire sure know how to bring entertainment to the court but in this match they left their run too late.

Down by 18 at one stage, Fire bought it back to just three in the final minute of the match before Lynx took the points 89-85.

Lynx pulled out an extraordinary 15 three-pointers in the match with Sami Whitcomb top scoring for Perth with 22 points, six rebounds and five assists.

Townsville Fire, in a recent match against Bendigo, are still chasing wins.

DANDENONG LEAD WNBL LADDER

Dandenong Rangers 77 (S. Blicavs 17pts, 16rebs) d Adelaide Lightning 64 (C. Planeta 17pts, 5rebs).

The Dandenong Rangers moved to the top of the ladder with their 77-64 victory over the winless Adelaide.

A telling stat was Dandenong out-rebounding Adelaide 50-30.

Dandenong now lead the WNBL.

SECOND HALF BLITZ SECURES CANBERRA WIN

Canberra Capitals 87 (M. Tolo 25pts, 8 ribs, 7asts) d Perth Lynx 82 (S. Whitcomb 36pts, 4asts)

Another great game as Canberra came out from the halftime break with serious intentions. Trailing by 10, they outscored Perth 50-36 to take the match by five.

Marianna Tolo (25 points, eight rebounds, seven assists) was the star of the game with Lynx’s Sami Whitcomb (36 points, five rebounds, four assists) also putting in a memorable performance.

BENDIGO BOUNCE. BACK

Bendigo Spirit 69 (N. Raincock-Ekunwe 14pts, 7rebs) d Adelaide Lightning 51 (L. Hodges 20pts, 10rebs)

It wasn’t pretty but Bendigo still took the points against Adelaide for a 1-1 result from the weekend.

Blake Dietrack (14 points) and Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe (14 points, seven rebounds, four assists) were the best for Bendigo.