Red-hot Fire defeat Flames at Quaycentre
The Sydney Flames’ win streak is over after losing 83-50 to the Townsville Fire at Quaycentre on Wednesday.
Match summary
Alicia Froling’s triple opened the scoring, only for the Flames to hit back through Celeste Taylor’s back-to-back lay-ups. Despite a bucket by reigning Player of the Round Isabella Brancatisano, and-one by Tahlia Tupaea and lay-in by Carla Pitman, the Hoops Capital side still trailed 14-11. That lead grew to nine behind Townsville’s Abbey Ellis’ sharp-shooting from downtown. Late scores by Tupaea helped slow the visitors’ onslaught, making it 27-15 at the first change.
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An 8-2 run by the Fire at the start of the second saw their lead balloon further but the Hoops Capital side kept digging in, thanks to scores from Bonnie Deas, Taylor and Brancatisano in quick succession. A late flurry for the Fire gave them a 22-point lead at half-time.
A 16-3 start to the half by Townsville forced Guy Molloy to call a time-out, as the margin grew to 35. Once again it was Taylor and Brancatisano that sparked the fightback for the harbour city side with a few buckets, before Deas and Sherrie Calleia got their names on the scoresheet, to make it71-38 at the final change.
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A driving Carla Pitman lay-up got the Flames going int the fourth, as the hosts scored six of the first eight points. But Shannon Seebohm’s hit back, with their size advantage causing issues for the hosts. Not only that but a barrage of threes from Lauren Mansfield and Nya Lok powered the Fire to a convincing 83-50 victory.
Where the match was decided
Townsville secured the win on the back of superior statistics in field goal percentage (46-32), rebounds (52-28), assists (21-6), points in the paint (44-26), points from turnovers (25-14) and bench points (30-7).
Key moment
A 27-15 first quarter by the Fire set the tone and platform for their 15th win of the season.
Player of the game
In the defeat, Taylor top-scored with 14, with Brancatisano (11) and Pitman (10) also scoring in double figures.
What’s next
The Flames, who are now 8012, remain in Sydney for a Saturday, February 15 encounter with Southside at Quaycentre – with tickets still available here.