Behind league MVP Cayla George’s masterclass, the Melbourne Boomers have levelled their WNBL semi-final sequence in opposition to the Southside Flyers with a complete 96-77 victory in Game Two.
The Boomers arrange Saturday’s lopsided victory at Parkville – their first in 4 makes an attempt this season in opposition to their hometown rivals – with a ferocious begin as they cast an impregnable 23-7 first-quarter lead.
After being uncharacteristically quelled within the sequence opener, George stamped her authority by scoring the primary 5 factors of Game Two and notching 20 of her match-high 28 factors by halftime.
Fellow All-WNBL First Team member Kirsty Wallace additionally bounced again from her Game One horror present – held to 2 factors on 0-of-11 from the sphere – to attain 27, coupled with 5 steals.
Sara Blicavs (15 factors) topscored for the Flyers, who had been rocked earlier than the match with the news star import Kayla Thornton – who typically proves a tricky match-up for George – would not play, nonetheless hampered by the rolled ankle she suffered in Wednesday’s sequence opener.
Southside seemed in much more hassle when Maddi Rocci staggered off the court docket after simply 63 seconds, winded in a collision with Abby Bishop, however the feisty guard returned to have a huge impact, falling one rebound and two assists shy of a triple-double.
George buried three first-quarter triples to steer Melbourne to a commanding 27-13 lead on the first change earlier than their cushion swelled to 24 factors as Tiffany Mitchell acquired going within the second stanza.
Rocci sparked a 9-0 Flyers revival however their momentum was short-lived, Wallace replying with a three-point bomb on the halftime buzzer to present Melbourne a 52-36 lead on the most important interval.
Behind Blicavs and skipper Bec Cole, Southside lowered the deficit to single digits within the third interval earlier than reserve Melbourne centre Penina Davidson stepped up with a flurry of heady performs to stall Southside once more.
The Boomers completed the third time period strongly to leap forward 80-59 earlier than George nailed one other triple early within the third and celebrated with panache because the hole blew out to 25 factors.
Melbourne’s skipper knew her facet had performed sufficient to finish their Southside hoodoo, protecting their title defence alive to power a Game Three decider on Wednesday.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
