This was published 7 years ago
WNBL: Melbourne Boomers fall short to inside power of Sydney University Flames
By Roy Ward
All WNBL season the Melbourne Boomers have been desperately short of an elite post player.
On Sunday Sydney University Flames showed yet again how undersized the Boomers are without one as import Asia Taylor's 28-point, 15-rebound masterclass helped the Flames to a 72-67 win.
Boomer Rebecca Cole reaches around Sydney's Jennifer Hamson.Credit: Mick Connolly
With a home crowd of 1659 celebrating the Boomers' 33rd birthday as a WNBL club, the home side put on a tireless display and had a chance to tie the game with 23 seconds left but Maddie Garrick's contested drive and shot rolled out and the Flames got the rebound then iced it from the foul line.
Despite the Flames' towering height advantage they only won the rebound contest 43-41 but the crafty play of starters Leilani Mitchell (seven assists), Alex Wilson, Belinda Snell (10 points) and Jennifer Hamson (10 points) constantly left Taylor in the low or high post where she could attack the basket and it proved too much for the home side.
The Boomers plan to be much more active in their recruiting this off-season after delays in the sale of the club curtailed their spending last year and signing someone with the power and athleticism to match the likes of Taylor will be top of their list.
Garrick's 16 points led the Boomers while Brittany Smart scored 11 points and Rebecca Cole 10 points.
Garrick said the game once again found the 4-17 [win-loss] side just short of victory.
"These games suck but we played well for the most part, when we got those stops and stopped Hamson and Taylor from getting easy baskets in the key we looked good," Garrick said.
"We have two weeks left and we are going to work on that and hopefully snatch a couple of wins."
Garrick added Taylor was a handful for any side in the WNBL.
"She is an athlete – she can move her body and has such a great ability to get position in the key then she's so strong you can't move her," Garrick said.
"When you are athletic and strong at the same time, that's a good recipe."
The win sees the Flames' winning streak out to six games and puts them within reach of locking down the top spot on the WNBL ladder as they host second-placed Dandenong Rangers in Sydney on Saturday night.
Taylor said her side was pushed out of its best form by the Boomers. "It was our fault as we came out and let them get some open shots," Taylor said.
"They are a good team when you let them space and get time to shoot so that was on us and that fourth quarter was tough.
"There was a lot of mistakes we made but in the end we came together as a team and got stops when it mattered."
Taylor said the passing from her teammates set up her big night and the side would be out to secure top spot.
"This team do a really good job of finding me when I'm open and giving me confidence to keep shooting when I miss a few," Taylor said.
"It's my job to be as aggressive as possible and try to get some easy buckets. That No. 1 spot feels good to us and we are trying to protect it, tonight was a big win for us."
Bendigo Spirit's finals hopes took another blow on Sunday as the fifth-placed side fell short against fourth-placed Townsville Fire 83-77 in Bendigo.
Despite a taxing win over Dandenong Rangers on Saturday night, the Fire were again on song as star centre Suzy Batkovic scored eight late points, most of them free throws, to finish with 31 points and seven rebounds.
The Spirit were 49-28 down at half-time but roared back in the third term to give themselves a chance to steal the win but the experienced Fire held firm and look the odds-on favourite to now finish in fourth and keep the Spirit out of the finals.
Spirit star Kelsey Griffin scored 28 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Spirit.
In next weekend's penultimate round both Dandenong Rangers and Melbourne Boomers have road doubles with the Rangers facing Townsville on Friday and the Flames on Saturday while the Boomers play Adelaide Lightning on Friday then Perth Lynx on Sunday.
Bendigo Spirit play Canberra Capitals in Canberra on Saturday at 3pm.