Super Netball Round 11 results: West Coast Fever 68-63 win over Adelaide Thunderbirds
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West Coast Fever's challenge for the minor premiership continues after crushing the finals hopes of the Adelaide Thunderbirds.
The 68-63 match, in front of a voracious Perth crowd, is Fever's ninth win on the trot and has rocketed them up the ladder to second spot.
It also equalled the record for winning the most consecutive Super Netball games.
Despite the victory, the close scoreline did little to improve Fever's goal percentage which is all that is standing between them and the top spot.
The Adelaide Thunderbirds will now need to rely on other results to stoke their dying hopes of limping into fourth position and a third consecutive tilt at the title.
As predicted, war was waged at each end of the court as the teams' respective Jamaicans battled for supremacy.
Alice Teague-Neeld of the Fever looks to pass.
For the Fever, goal shoot Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard and defender Kadie-Ann Dehaney had near instantaneous impact.
Dehaney, who is in career best form, got hand to ball early and had national teammate Romelda Aiken-George looking uncomfortable on the shot.
Two early misses, and a few retaliatory elbows signalled the frustration from Aiken-George who eventually steadied her emotions to net 41/47.
Speaking about Aiken-George's overall performance, Thunderbirds coach Tania Obst praised her leadership: 'She is such a target for us. Loz [Lauren Frew] is learning so much from her. I think she enjoys the battle against her fellow Jamaicans and she was a real competitor again tonight for us.'
As Fowler-Nembhard continued to dominate, off the back of great ball service from match MVP Alice Teague-Neeld, Thunderbirds's coach Tania Obst constantly rotated her troops in search of a winning formula. Latanya Wilson, who collected eight gains last week, was a menacing presence but could only finish with two gains for her side.
Romelda Aiken-George receives a pass.
Sensing the Thunderbirds were building momentum off the back of Lauren Frew's supershot ability, Fever rang in the changes adding more defence to the middle. It did little to slow the visitors as they won the third 19-15, locking the scores at 51-a-piece heading into the final term.
With the Thunderbirds battling to return to the top four, and Fever looking tired after four of their past five matches on the road, both sides fought desperately for every pass in a torrid final quarter battle. As Fever pushed the scoreline out, Frew's earlier hot hand went cold, allowing the home side to run home five goal winners.
Fever coach Dan Ryan said he thought his side was gone heading into the final term.
'It was a battle and a half. They never really let us get into any flow or gear. At times we were our worst nightmare. Then it quickly turned. It was all over the shop,' he said.
DOGGED DEFENCE
Thunderbirds defender Latanya Wilson is well and truly stepping out of Shamera Sterling-Humphrey's shadow. The Jamaican duo has ruled the defensive stats for a number of years but with Sterling-Humphrey now on maternity leave, Wilson is proving that she is just as formidable on her own. The 188cm defender leads the league in deflections (with 69 - 14 ahead of the second place holder) and intercepts (28 - ahead by 11). Her turnovers are also impressively low (eight) for someone who has played all but three minutes of the season so far.
DIAMONDS WATCH
Fever's Alice Teague-Neeld has been in sparkling form this season. The 28-year-old leads the league for goal assists (with 211, four more than Diamonds captain Liz Watson) and is second place, behind Watson, for feeds (331) and centre pass receives (203). She was in similarly great form last season and was an invitee to the end-of-year Diamonds camp. Surely, with two years of consistently reliable form, she would again be on the selectors' radars.
Fever fans celebrate.
A VIEW FOR WOMEN'S SPORT
Netball Australia and Whoopi Goldberg's All Women's Sport Network (AWSN) have entered into a multi-year deal to bring Suncorp Super Netball into 900 million homes worldwide. The partnership will see 41 matches (including finals) made available to AWSN audiences through to the end of 2027.
Originally published as Super Netball Round 11 results: West Coast Fever 68-63 winners over Adelaide Thunderbirds
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