Mavs end losing streak, keep Firebirds in last place
The Melbourne Mavericks have snapped a four-game losing streak and kept the Queensland Firebirds anchored to the bottom of the Super Netball ladder with a 65-54 win at Nissan Arena.
After galloping to a 20-0 quarter-time lead in Brisbane on Sunday, the Mavericks saw their buffer scaled right back to three at half-time, before recapturing their early momentum in a clinical second half.
Molly Jovic was a commanding presence through the centre with 25 assists from 41 feeds, while shooter Shimona Jok poured in 60 goals.
"Awesome that we got the start that we wanted," Jovic said after helping lifting the Mavs from equal bottom to sixth and now with a sniff of making the finals.
"We've been pushing for that for a few weeks
"Now we just need to learn how to maintain it across the whole four game."
With Jovic and Tayla Fraser and Molly Jovic carving up the middle and Jok clinical in attack, it was all the Mavericks early.
In reality, though, the Firebirds were their own worst enemies early in the game.
After falling behind 5-0, not even an emergency time-out called by Queensland coach Kiri Wills with the contest just 2:30 old could stop the rot.
The fumbling Firebirds, who tumbled to their ninth straight defeat, were on unwanted world-record pace with 10 first-quarter turnovers - implausibly racking up more cough-ups than goals.
As soon as the quarter-time horn sounded, Wills made a beeline for her players and unleashed a paint-stripping spray before they could even reach the bench.
The old-school tough love delivered the desired result as Queensland completely flipped the script with a 22-14 second term to slash the margin to 34-31 at halftime.
As the home side's comeback took shape, Mavericks skipper Amy Parmenter called a captain's time-out and addressed her teammates, with coach Tracey Neville staying on the pine without interjecting.
The Firebirds curbed Jovic's influence, took better care of the ball and received huge lifts in the midcourt from Macy Gardner and Lara Dunkley, who switched bibs.
But Queensland undid all that good work after the main break as their shooting radar went badly awry.
They connected on a dismal 9-of-18 for the term and Melbourne made them pay.
Defender Kim Brown cleaned up with a swag of rebounds, springboarding the Mavs repeatedly into attack and to a 48-40 three-quarter-time buffer.
Jok continued to dominate aerially and Jovic in the middle as the Mavericks kept their foot on the Firebirds' throats down the stretch.
The Melbourne Mavericks have snapped a four-game losing streak and kept the Queensland Firebirds anchored to the bottom of the Super Netball ladder with a 65-54 win at Nissan Arena.
After galloping to a 20-0 quarter-time lead in Brisbane on Sunday, the Mavericks saw their buffer scaled right back to three at half-time, before recapturing their early momentum in a clinical second half.
Molly Jovic was a commanding presence through the centre with 25 assists from 41 feeds, while shooter Shimona Jok poured in 60 goals.
"Awesome that we got the start that we wanted," Jovic said after helping lifting the Mavs from equal bottom to sixth and now with a sniff of making the finals.
"We've been pushing for that for a few weeks
"Now we just need to learn how to maintain it across the whole four game."
With Jovic and Tayla Fraser and Molly Jovic carving up the middle and Jok clinical in attack, it was all the Mavericks early.
In reality, though, the Firebirds were their own worst enemies early in the game.
After falling behind 5-0, not even an emergency time-out called by Queensland coach Kiri Wills with the contest just 2:30 old could stop the rot.
The fumbling Firebirds, who tumbled to their ninth straight defeat, were on unwanted world-record pace with 10 first-quarter turnovers - implausibly racking up more cough-ups than goals.
As soon as the quarter-time horn sounded, Wills made a beeline for her players and unleashed a paint-stripping spray before they could even reach the bench.
The old-school tough love delivered the desired result as Queensland completely flipped the script with a 22-14 second term to slash the margin to 34-31 at halftime.
As the home side's comeback took shape, Mavericks skipper Amy Parmenter called a captain's time-out and addressed her teammates, with coach Tracey Neville staying on the pine without interjecting.
The Firebirds curbed Jovic's influence, took better care of the ball and received huge lifts in the midcourt from Macy Gardner and Lara Dunkley, who switched bibs.
But Queensland undid all that good work after the main break as their shooting radar went badly awry.
They connected on a dismal 9-of-18 for the term and Melbourne made them pay.
Defender Kim Brown cleaned up with a swag of rebounds, springboarding the Mavs repeatedly into attack and to a 48-40 three-quarter-time buffer.
Jok continued to dominate aerially and Jovic in the middle as the Mavericks kept their foot on the Firebirds' throats down the stretch.
The Melbourne Mavericks have snapped a four-game losing streak and kept the Queensland Firebirds anchored to the bottom of the Super Netball ladder with a 65-54 win at Nissan Arena.
After galloping to a 20-0 quarter-time lead in Brisbane on Sunday, the Mavericks saw their buffer scaled right back to three at half-time, before recapturing their early momentum in a clinical second half.
Molly Jovic was a commanding presence through the centre with 25 assists from 41 feeds, while shooter Shimona Jok poured in 60 goals.
"Awesome that we got the start that we wanted," Jovic said after helping lifting the Mavs from equal bottom to sixth and now with a sniff of making the finals.
"We've been pushing for that for a few weeks
"Now we just need to learn how to maintain it across the whole four game."
With Jovic and Tayla Fraser and Molly Jovic carving up the middle and Jok clinical in attack, it was all the Mavericks early.
In reality, though, the Firebirds were their own worst enemies early in the game.
After falling behind 5-0, not even an emergency time-out called by Queensland coach Kiri Wills with the contest just 2:30 old could stop the rot.
The fumbling Firebirds, who tumbled to their ninth straight defeat, were on unwanted world-record pace with 10 first-quarter turnovers - implausibly racking up more cough-ups than goals.
As soon as the quarter-time horn sounded, Wills made a beeline for her players and unleashed a paint-stripping spray before they could even reach the bench.
The old-school tough love delivered the desired result as Queensland completely flipped the script with a 22-14 second term to slash the margin to 34-31 at halftime.
As the home side's comeback took shape, Mavericks skipper Amy Parmenter called a captain's time-out and addressed her teammates, with coach Tracey Neville staying on the pine without interjecting.
The Firebirds curbed Jovic's influence, took better care of the ball and received huge lifts in the midcourt from Macy Gardner and Lara Dunkley, who switched bibs.
But Queensland undid all that good work after the main break as their shooting radar went badly awry.
They connected on a dismal 9-of-18 for the term and Melbourne made them pay.
Defender Kim Brown cleaned up with a swag of rebounds, springboarding the Mavs repeatedly into attack and to a 48-40 three-quarter-time buffer.
Jok continued to dominate aerially and Jovic in the middle as the Mavericks kept their foot on the Firebirds' throats down the stretch.
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