12 Aug Sydney Uni Take 11th Crown
The Sydney Uni Flames are the Women’s National Wheelchair Basketball League champions, taking out the title against the Perth Wheelcats 57-44.
While women’s MVP Hannah Dodd (18 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists) and Defensive Player of the Year Annabelle Lindsay (21 points, 17 rebounds) led the way for the Flames, it was Brodie Palmer who was the difference maker as Sydney Uni reversed three losses to the Wheelcats during the regular season with wins in both Saturday’s semifinal and the Gold Medal Game on Sunday.
The Flames held a 7-point advantage at halftime before a 16-7 third quarter left the Wheelcats looking down and out with 10 minutes to play.
The start of the fourth didn’t go their way either as the Flames pushed their lead out to 20 on their way to their 11th WNWBL championship.
“Really, really proud. Really, really happy. Perth’s a pretty tough team, they’re either a team of Gliders or emerging Gliders so you know it’s always going to be a tough fight,” said Flames captain Hannah Dodd.
“I was really proud of the girls today, everybody moved the ball around, we got some shots up.”
Palmer missed the Round 2 games between the two sides and her presence in the Finals helped provide coverage on high-point MVP Amber Merritt.
“Having Brodie come back in as a big set of hands who’s fast and mobile and can put a bit of extra pressure on so we’re not just sending Annabelle to Amber. We know the key to beating Perth is getting the ball out of Amber’s hands and I think we did a pretty good job of that.”
The Flames went into the weekend with a defensive mindset, knowing that’s what would be needed to go all the way.
“The Flames played our best defense ever,” said Liesl Tesch. “Hannah coming back from a European season was just so quick at switching and guiding us around.”
“It makes me cry with happiness. To see the league fade away after COVID or during COVID and even before COVID, it was a league the players built ourselves, especially the women’s game, but to see Lorraine Landon’s investment and the wheelchair basketballers beside her, it’s a game changer for the future and it’s a game changer for 2032.”
In the Third Place Play-off the Sydney Blues began their match against the Queensland Comets with a 10-2 start before Comets rallied and closed out the quarter 5-3.
The Comets hung tough in the second and third quarters to trail by 9 at three quarter time before Sydney pulled away in the fourth to win 57-37.
The 20-point margin was a marked improvement on the near 50-point average margins the Comets conceded against the Blues in Round 2 and the 35-point loss in the previous day’s Semi Final.
“I think more off the court as well. I’ve seen a lot of these girls come out of their shell. It’s been great to play with some different girls and take more of a leadership role. To not be one of the rookies but one of the more experienced players was definitely something different for me,” said Queensland Comets’ Laura Davoli.
“All the girls improved, we all had so much fun together and there’s so many good things we can get out of these games.”
Teams can now return to their respective cities with certainty around next season and are able to start planning straight away.
“Knowing we’ve got something to work towards is so important. This is of massive value to all the players. Having the spectators on the sideline saying we want to get on the court. Giving young kids a space to dream to be a part of, on this court, is amazing,” said Tesch.