Sirens School AIS
Tagged in: Tall Ferns
The Christchurch Sirens ended the AIS’ Australian Defence Force WNBL playoff aspirations with a 76-55 win over the Institute at Cowles Stadium on Saturday night.
A scintillating first half display which saw the Sirens (8-13) amazingly lead 48-19 at halftime laid the perfect platform for the New Zealand-based franchise to register their eighth win of the season.
It was pure disappointment for the young AIS (8-14), who before last round’s three-point loss to Perth were in contention to make the finals.
US import Lamisha Augustine tallied a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double to lead the Sirens with New Zealand Tall Fern Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe adding 14 points and Lisa Wallbutton pulling in a game-high 12 rebounds.
For the AIS, Cayla Francis added 14 points and 8 rebounds and Nikita Martin contributed 9 points and 5 rebounds but making just 6-of-30 (20%) first half field shots and 19-of-their-67 field shots (28%) proved too big a hurdle to overcome.
Helped by the AIS poor shooting, the Sirens quickly established a strong 23-11 quarter-time lead before completely blitzing their younger opponents 25-8 in the second term to hold a 31-point half time lead.
The Institute lifted their shooting percentage to 50% in the third quarter which they won 19-16 to trail 64-38 and on the back of a 20-14 rebound count win in the last quarter the AIS finished 21 points in arrears.
The battle in the paint was relatively even, the Sirens pulling in 52 rebounds to the Institute’s 50.
The Sirens’ eighth win of the season was their eighth home win, as they are yet to claim their first away victory in their short WNBL history.
The Sirens host final four hopefuls Bendigo at Cowles Stadium next Saturday night, while the AIS will take on the high flying Adelaide Lightning in Canberra, also on Saturday night.
