
21 Jul WNWBL Round 3 Wrap
Round three of the WNWBL was turned on its head just two days out from its commencement with news the Sydney Blues would not be able to field a team due illness that had gone through the club. The Blues were forced to forfeit their three games against Perth and it left the cluster round at Sydney Uni Sports & Aquatic down to two teams in Sydney Uni and the Queensland Comets.
The Flames accounted for the Comets comfortably in game one, 77-35. Annabelle Lindsay had 39 points and 16 rebounds while Hannah Dodd had 21 points and 11 assists. Laura Davoli led the way for Queensland with 21 points.
“I’m coming into my idea of how I want to play, my style as a player, going through the national league and the week at Melbourne, I’m really understanding how I want to play as an athlete,” said Davoli.
In Saturday night’s game, the Comets found themselves down 39-12 but rallied after half time and only lost the second half 30-34, finishing with their highest total of the season, the final score in favour of the Flames 73-42.
“Coming into the second half we were all a bit down, Dory (Laura Del Toso), one of our veteran players, was on three fouls. We set a goal for ourselves, we wanted to beat our score from previous rounds and we did and we’re all pretty happy about that.”
While still behind the other three teams in the league, the Comets continue to build experience and get small victories along the way. The Comets bench, euphoric on the occasions they were able to get a stop or force a shot clock violation.
“We have a lot of developing players and being able to show them we can put pressure on teams as good as the Uni Flames, it makes us feel good about our abilities. Putting some pressure on them in the second half was really fun for us.”
“We were able to use our bench for the first time which is good to get our developing girls minutes,” said the Flames’ Hannah Dodd. “I think that showed a bit on the defensive side but I was very happy to keep our offence running even with our developing players on.”
The Flames used the start of the first game to feel out the visiting Comets, having only seen a small sample of how they play on the live streams of previous rounds.
“We knew they were going to come out fighting this afternoon, and they’ve got some good young talent in Laura Davoli and in Issy Martin as well as a couple of the junior girls coming through.”
In Sunday’s final game, the Flames held a comfortable 20-point lead as three quarter time loomed and still had an 18-point advantage with 3:54 to play but that’s where the points dried up for Sydney Uni and Queensland made one last run.
The Comets put on the last 13 points of the game to finish just five points behind the Flames, 60-65, their 60 points easily their highest total of the season, improving on their previous highest total the night before.
The four WNWBL teams must now wait for Finals on August 10th & 11th to return to the court again. The Blues’ weekend of forfeited games has resigned them to third place where they will meet fourth placed Queensland for a spot in the Preliminary Final.
The Sydney Uni Flames finish in second place and will meet Perth in the semifinal with the winner to advance directly to the Gold Medal game.
The Flames will need to reverse the results of Round 2 against the Wheelcats, or face having to get to the gold medal game the hard way via the Preliminary Final.

“I think fatigue got the better of us last week. We were quite close in that first game and that was without Brodie so I think bringing Brodie back into the line up and having a pair of big hands that’s fast and mobile will definitely help us,” said Dodd.
Dodd is conscious of the threats Perth has across the court.
“You’ve got to limit Amber as much as physically possible which is pretty hard when she’s as fast as she is.”
“If you really focus on Amber then you’ve got ‘Ebs’, you’ve got ‘GI’, you’ve got Taishar and Mini in the lows rolling through so it’s not like you can really lean off anyone, you’ve got Hughie coming through as a developing big so it’s not like you can really leave anyone alone and say, ‘yeah you can shoot the basket’.”
“Definitely hard work, you’ve got to defend all five as cleanly and as hard as possible.”
While Perth were disappointed to not travel to Sydney for Round 3, they’re happy with how the team is travelling so far.
“I think the team is feeling really good, and excited by what we’ve achieved and what we can continue to achieve,” said Amber Merritt.
“Obviously every game is different so we want to ensure that as we continue the season, we just want to maintain that unity and grow with each game we play.”
As the Wheelcats look towards the finals, they’ll continue to lean on the new crop of emerging players.
“I really came into this season wanting to be more of a role player supporting others in their game development. My past self has had her time, and now I’m in a place to support others and reach beyond where I ever could,” said Merritt.
“This season is very different for me mentally, and I think it’s really showing. I’m playing a more freeing game and not feeling the pressures of perfection and being that player.”