Perth Lynx continue to pour pressure on the WNBL top four, extending their winning streak to seven with a pair of crucial road victories over title contenders Bendigo and Melbourne.
On Wednesday, the Lynx warded off a fourth-quarter scare to down the Spirit 92-88 in Bendigo.
Perth’s commanding 22-point lead was sliced to just two points after Spirit superstar Anneli Maley (19 points, 17 rebounds) inspired a 28-8 barrage.
Lynx captain Sami Whitcomb (game-high 25 points) held her nerve against the tide by netting a pair of free throws with 0.8 seconds on the clock, after teammate Lauren Scherf’s vital offensive board, to snap Bendigo’s three-match winning spell.
Fifth-ranked Perth’s giant-slaying run continued on Sunday when Amy Atwell scored 27 points including seven three-pointers – four of them coming in Lynx’s commanding second term – to underpin a 91-82 victory over the Boomers at Parkville.
Melbourne’s second successive defeat caused them to lose top spot to Southside after the Flyers edged past Adelaide Lightning 73-72 on Saturday night to move to 12-4.
Southside trailed by a point late in the seesawing encounter at Adelaide Arena, before forcing the Lightning into a shot-clock violation then hitting the front when American Kayla Thornton (22 points, 11 rebounds) scored with 15.8 seconds remaining.
Adelaide had the last possession but skipper Steph Talbot’s jumper for the win in the dying stages was off-line.
On Friday, Townsville Fire narrowly averted a boilover, edging home 81-80 against the Canberra Capitals at the Townsville Entertainment Centre.
The Fire’s 52-41 third-quarter advantage turned into a 70-62 deficit on a withering 29-8 burst from the Capitals but the home side steadied the ship and edged ahead on a pair of Tianna Hawkins foul shots.
With 13.2 seconds left, Canberra had the final possession but were unable to get a shot up, with skipper Brittany Smart forced into a last-second turnover.
Zitina Aokuso amassed 20 points in 21 minutes off the bench for Townsville, while import Rae Burrell (24 points) top-scored for the valiant Caps.
Despite a wretched start and unconvincing finish at Qudos Bank Arena, the Fire made it two-from-two with an 82-78 triumph over the Sydney Flames on Sunday.
After conceding a whopping 10 offensive boards to trail by 13 points at quartertime, Townsville dominated the middle two terms, outscoring the Flames 61-28.
Piloted by captain Keely Froling (24 points), Sydney charged to the finish in the fourth quarter but came up just short.
The Flames were without coach Shane Heal and his daughter, rising star guard Shyla Heal, for the third consecutive week.
Shane Heal is facing a club investigation but all parties have remained tight-lipped on the nature of the probe.
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