Fever Record Big Win
The West Coast Fever has started season 2012 brightly, with a comprehensive 55-35 win over Caterbury Tactix at Challenge Stadium.
With legendary Australian coach Norma Plummer calling the shots, the Fever appears to have benefitted from a number of changes in their makeup, including the evergreen Australian Diamond shooter Cox, and exciting young midcourter Ashleigh Brazill. The 20-goal victory was the largest winning margin in the Fever’s ANZ Championship history.
WAIS scholarship holder and Diamonds representative Caitlin Bassett continued to lead the line, top scoring with 34 of the Fever’s total of 55.
The Tactix – with a similar change in leadership in former Silver Ferns coach Leigh Gibbs started strongly but couldn’t maintain the pace the Fever set from the second quarter.
Eagle-eyed shooting from Ellen Halpenny and Jo Harten put the Tactix into a strong position early, leading 5-2, with wing attack Anna Thompson linking well with Harten.
At the opposite end, Cox made no mistake with her first shot in Fever colours, and was shrewd inside and out of the circle in her unaccustomed role of goal attack. But Tactix goal keeper Bessie Manu threw herself into the task of denying Fever goal shooter Caitlin Bassett a comfortable start under the post, and the Fever were slow to match the Tactix shooting spree.
It was the trademark stealth defence of wing defence and WAIS athlete Andrea Gilmore, in her 50th appearance for the Fever, that sparked a turnaround. As the Fever began to string their passes together with more panache, they assumed the lead for the first time with 30 seconds left on the clock in the first quarter, and went to the benches 12-10 up.
As Fever extended in the second quarter, with sustained pressure, the Tactix employed their traditional zone marking to try to stop the flow. But it was a tough ask, as Cox’s long cross-court passes were, for the most part, deadly, and former Swift Ashleigh Brazill, in her new position at centre, was all-pervading throughout the court and quick to snatch up any loose ball.
Harten stood strong against fellow English player Eboni Beckford-Chambers, at goal defence for Fever, but the home side had the obvious advantage at halftime – both in the 25-18 on the scoreboard and in their control of the court.
Despite the determined efforts of captain and centre Maree Bowden to keep her side in the game, and some hard-won turnovers, the Tactix couldn’t get any closer in the third spell, their shooters starved of ball for extended periods as the Fever’s midcourt defence tightened grip.
Trailing 39-26 going into the final quarter, the Tactix tried a change in shooting bringing Thompson in at goal attack to improve their fortunes, but the Fever was on a roll and with Bassett finding the hoop with growing regularity, the margin only widened with the final deficit reaching 20 goals.