The Sydney Flames have claimed their first win at new dwelling court docket QuayCentre and heaped extra distress on the UC Capitals, consigning them to a ninth-straight defeat to begin the WNBL season.
The Capitals had been overwhelmed 87-72 having misplaced by a median margin of twenty-two.75 factors throughout their first eight video games. But they caught with the Flames on Friday and took the lead for the primary time within the remaining 4 minutes of the second quarter.
A primary-round choose in the newest WNBA draft, Rae Burrell stored Canberra’s surge alive with 14 of her aspect’s 20 third-quarter factors, wanting particularly ominous from past the arc.
It took till the ultimate time period for an additional Capitals participant to make it into double figures.
Flames guard Shyla Heal caught it to Burrell (27 factors) and had surpassed 20 factors for the sport by the ultimate change herself as solely three factors separated the 2 sides.
But Burrell’s affect waned within the fourth quarter and the Flames took her substitution out of the sport as an invite to go on with the competition.
When she rejoined within the final two-and-a-half minutes, captain Keely Froling (26 factors) and Heal (22 factors) had been in the course of orchestrating a 12-point run that sealed victory for the Flames within the second recreation at their new digs.
Opals star Cayla George (30 factors, 11 rebounds, 10 assists) recorded the WNBL’s first triple-double in ten years because the reigning-champion Melbourne Boomers fought again to sink the Adelaide Lightning 106-100 in an time beyond regulation thriller.
After seven rounds, George leads the league in rebounds and minutes per recreation and is ranked within the high ten for factors, assists, blocks and steals.
Mia Murray led the Boomers with 34 factors and her three-pointer within the remaining minute despatched the sport into OT, the place Olivia Nelson-Ododa pitched in seven of the Boomers’ 15 factors.
George and Adelaide’s Steph Talbot (22 factors, 12 rebounds), Australia’s finest participant on the current World Cup, every performed a staggering 45 minutes of recreation time nevertheless it was George who got here up trumps over her Opals teammate.
Lauren Jackson’s return to the WNBL continues to pay dividends for the Southside Flyers, who handed the Bendigo Spirit their first lack of the season 96-67 and consolidated fourth spot.
For the third time this season, Jackson (20 factors, 13 rebounds) racked up 20-plus factors because the Flyers prevented Bendigo from main at any level.
In her two hundredth WNBL recreation, Spirit captain Kelsey Griffin had 10 factors and a game-high 4 steals.
In the primary recreation of the spherical, the Perth Lynx consigned the Capitals to their eighth straight loss 97-83.
Jade Melbourne amassed a career-high 24 factors because the Capitals toiled away with out Shaneice Swain (private causes) and Emilee Whittle-Harmon, who injured her knee within the warm-up.
Lynx captain Sami Whitcomb led the way in which with 26 factors and a game-high seven assists.
