Sirens Sizzle In Boilover
Tagged in: Tall Ferns
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The Christchurch Sirens caused a major boil over at the Cowles Cauldron, demolishing Australian Defence Force NBL frontrunners the Sydney Uni Flames 79-55 in a blowout.
This was the fourth consecutive win for the Sirens, all at Christchurch’s Cowles Stadium, with the home side living up to their marketing billing of being “so hot right now!”
A feature of the win was the number of notable contributions from the entire Sirens 12 squad members, outclassing the formidable Sydney side at both ends of the floor.
Sydney sorely missed powerhouse forward Natalie Porter, the league’s scoring leader, who was rested due to an ankle injury.
The Sirens reeled off a decisive 27-9 second quarter as they outworked the Flames after a slow first quarter. Christchurch answered a third-quarter resurgence from Sydney with five three-pointers and the visitors could only trim the margin to 11 mid-way through the term.
Coach Leigh Gooding was able to give the home side’s development players some valuable experience in the fourth as the margin hovered around the 20-point mark.
The Flames struggled to find their shooting range, connecting on 28% overall and 3/18 from three-point range. Meanwhile, the Sirens were relatively scorching with at a 45% clip overall and 10/24 (42%) from the arc.
Christchurch’s defence keyed the second-quarter run as the Sirens ran the ball and scored a total of 15 points off Flames turnovers.
American forward Lamisha Augustine was tremendous, providing a “double double” of 16 points and 13 rebounds. Captain Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe was tireless on defence and hit some key jumpers to keep the Sirens ahead in her 11-point tally (3/5 3pt), also adding five assists and four steals.
Natalie Purcell made another big impact from the bench with 4/9 three-pointers, including two bank shots, and matched her 12 points with hard work on defence.
Donna Wilkins was a cornerstone of the Sirens comeback with her tenacity stoking their second-quarter effort. She finished with 10 points and eight boards.
Christchurch product Toni Edmondson made some acrobatic and athletic moves in her 18 minutes on the court, scoring seven points and grabbing six boards. Playmaker Ashley Awkward left the game with an ankle injury, but not before scoring 11 points.
Canterbury U19 and U21 schoolgirl Natalie Moore made most of the closing minutes of the game, slotting a three-pointer from the corner to the delight of the crowd.
With Porter on the sideline, Sydney guard Alicia Poto was heavily relied upon at the offensive end, regularly facing double teams and help-side defence as she tried to find penetration lanes. She played all 40 minutes, finishing with 25 points on 9/25 shooting and nine rebounds.
Kristen Veal couldn’t find her renowned shooting touch, managing 1/12 from the field for five points, and Eva Afeaki found gaps around the hoop, but couldn’t convert lay-ups going 4/14 for nine points.
The win moves the Sirens to 4-7, and they face an away double-header against AIS and Adelaide next weekend. The team is now just three wins outside of the fourth playoff spot. Sydney falls to 8-4, and travel to Townsville next weekend.
Christchurch Sirens 79 (Lamisha Augustine 16, Natalie Purcell 12, Ashley Awkward 11, Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe 11, Donna Wilkins 10) Sydney Uni Flames 55 (Alicia Poto 25)
