Townsville Fire defeat Perth Lynx to make it into grand final
The Townsville Fire have locked in a third WNBL grand final appearance in five seasons after an emphatic 106-76 victory over Perth. Here’s how they did it.
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The Townsville Fire have locked in a third WNBL grand final appearance in five seasons after an emphatic 106-76 victory over Perth on Wednesday night.
The Fire found their rhythm after a nervous start and once they caught alight they were impossible to put out.
Townsville’s starters were outstanding all game while Alex Fowler and Lauren Mansfield made huge contributions from the pine.
Courtney Woods and Abbey Ellis each scored 18 points but it was a team effort as six of Townsville’s seven players who spent more than a few minutes on the court scored double digits.
Townsville coach Shannon Seebohm said it was extra special to get revenge against the team that knocked them out of finals last season.
“I thought the ball movement tonight was incredible. I think we had 32 assists on 37 made shots, which is phenomenal,” Seebohm said.
“It’s something that we’ve been talking about for most of this year, and we’ve made incremental improvements in that area.
“To see it all come together and have a game like that against such a great team, and a well-coached team, and a team that we’ve had some really great battles with over the last three years, was very rewarding.”
Poor discipline kept Perth’s best defensive player Laeticia Amihere benched for far too long but she couldn’t win a trick with the umpires, fouling out early in the fourth quarter after just 11 minutes on the floor.
Lynx skipper Anneli Maley was also kept away from the glass with just six rebounds – less than half of her season average.
The Fire have now won 10 of their last 11 games, with only one defeat since being beaten by Bendigo 76-65 on New Year’s Eve.
Woods said she was happy Townsville was able to piece together such a complete performance in such an important game.
“It was an accumulation of what we’ve been working on all year, and obviously in finals games that’s pretty hard to put together,” Woods said.
“There’s a lot of pressure, we have a lot of young players, so I think it was really awesome.
“That’s what it takes to win championships: great coaching, great schemes and then players who are willing to show up every night.”
Despite the score, it didn’t come easy for Townsville.
Fire fans were stunned as Perth took a 13-2 lead off the back of three successful three-pointers within the first three minutes, but the advantage was short-lived.
Back-to-back-to-back threes from Abbey Ellis got Townsville back into the contest and the home side were able to turn their fortunes around to take a 26-21 lead into the first break.
The Fire continued to burn until halftime, extending the deficit to 14 points at the midway point with three Townsville players reaching double digits.
The Lynx got more flustered as the game went on and their shooting fell off a cliff, making just three of their first 16 shots in the third quarter.
It was a different story for the home side as Townsville raced out to a 78-53 lead at the final break, closing out the game with a physical fourth quarter.
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Originally published as Townsville Fire defeat Perth Lynx to make it into grand final
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