WNBL Preview - Round Five

Round Four lived up to all the hype and expectation when the Perth Lynx took their third win of the season over the Adelaide Fellas and Sydney Uni Flames had victory over the undefeated Canberra Capitals.

The ABC-TV Game of the Week between the Bulleen Melbourne Boomers and Townsville Fire started out like another classic, with Townsville taking a three-point half time lead. The Boomers however, weren’t to be denied as they came out blazing in the second half and sent Townsville packing with a decisive 16-point victory.

Sydney Uni will be looking for a second victory when it takes on Townsville at home in Round Five. After disposing of the Canberra Capitals last week, Sydney will enter this contest with a much needed confidence boost.

Second place Bulleen will be looking to improve their one game lead over the third placed Capitals as the two teams do battle in Canberra.

Dandenong will be playing its second game on the weekend when they take on Perth, Sunday in Perth. Dandenong will be looking to continue their undefeated season.

After a lengthy break AIS will play host to the Adelaide Fellas in a Sunday afternoon clash. AIS will be looking to notch their first win of the season against the Fellas after their disappointing loss to the Lynx in round four.

Adelaide will play host to Dandenong on Friday night in the ABC TV Game of the Week, check your local guides for details.

Adelaide Fellas vs Dandenong Rangers

Friday, October 28
Wayville Basketball Stadium, Adelaide
Tip-off:   7:30pm

Adelaide and Dandenong will take to the court this Friday in a rematch of their Round Two tussle. Dandenong comes into the contest atop the league ladder with a perfect 3-0 record, with one of their wins coming at the expense of Adelaide.

Adelaide will be looking to bounce back from a tough Round Four loss to Perth. At Two-from-Four the Fellas stand tied for sixth place with Townsville in the league ladder.

The battle between Opals squad members Jennifer Screen and Carly Wilson will be one to watch. Also keep an eye out for blonde bombshell Erin Phillips who will be looking to turn her team around and lead by example.

Expect this game to be closer than the records indicate, each of Adelaide’s four losses have come by less than ten points. In what will be a close contest the visiting Rangers vying to keep their perfect record intact.

*Watch it on ABC TV on Saturday afternoon or ABC2 on Sunday morning.

Townsville Fire vs Sydney Uni Flames

Friday, October 28
Sea FM Stadium, Townsville
Tip-off:   8:00pm

In another rematch of Round Two, the Townsville Fire will again play host to the Sydney Uni Flames. In the first contest Sydney jumped out to an early 13 point first quarter lead and managed to hang on for a 73-68 victory.

Sydney Uni and Townsville sit in a virtual tie along with Adelaide for sixth place, Sydney Uni however have played one game fewer than both Townsville and Adelaide making this weekends contest very crucial to the league ladder.

In the first meeting of the season Sydney Uni produced an all-around team performance, as five players scored in double figures to lift the Flames to victory.

Newcomer Rohanne Cox and former Sydney Uni teammate Kelly Wilson top scored for Townsville with 21 points each in their previous meeting.

Sydney is coming off a much-needed win over the Canberra Capitals. They will be looking to continue on their winning way. Should the combination of Fallon, Porter and Snell be alive then the Flames will be hard to beat. The Fire will look to come out hard in the first quarter and stop the free flowing game of the Flames. Expect the game to go down to the fourth quarter.

Canberra Capitals vs Bulleen Melbourne Boomers

Saturday, October 29
AIS Arena, Canberra
Tip-off:   7:30pm

The Bulleen Melbourne Boomers suffered their only defeat at the hands of the Canberra Capitals in Round Three of the competition. Things may have changed this time around as Canberra star Lauren Jackson, who scored 29 points and 18 rebounds in the first contest, is out through injury.

The Capitals will need Jenny Whittle and Kellie Abrams to step up in a big way to avoid a second straight loss. Canberra who is only one game behind Bulleen in the league ladder, need to find a combination of players who will keep them in the play-off hunt.

Look for Boomers star Katrina Hibbert, who is coming off a 30-point outburst against Townsville, to pace second place Bulleen. The Boomers who currently sit one game behind Dandenong on the ladder will have revenge on their mind and will look to build on their recent strong performance, to take away a much-needed victory.

Perth Lynx vs Dandenong Rangers

Sunday, October 30
Eaton Recreation Centre, Perth
Tip-off:   12:00pm

The Perth Lynx will be looking to hand the Dandenong Rangers their first loss of the season when they clash Sunday afternoon in Perth. The Lynx currently sitting fourth in the table, while Dandenong occupy the top spot.

Perth will be looking to capitalise on their strong form going into Sunday’s game to claim victory over the current WNBL Champions.

The Rangers will play Friday night against Adelaide, in Adelaide, then hop on a plane to Perth for a 12pm tip off Sunday afternoon. Perth on the other hand will be relaxing Friday night, with their only game on the weekend at home against the Rangers.

This game will be a blockbuster. Perth is coming off a great win against Adelaide, has home court advantage, and is hosting a Dandenong team who is playing two road games in less than 48 hours.

With all those factors in the equation, it will be a hard fought battle. Look out for Round Four Player of the Week Jasmine Finnigan to have a major impact for the Lynx.

Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) vs Adelaide Fellas

Sunday, October 30
AIS Training Hall, Canberra
Tip-off:   2:00pm

AIS is coming off a Round Four bye and will be playing their first game in over two weeks when they meet the Adelaide Fellas on Sunday. Adelaide will be travelling to face the students after a presumably tough battle with league leaders Dandenong on Friday night.

AIS have yet to find the win column this season and in doing so have lost three of four contests’ by over 30 points each. With a couple weeks off and some time to regroup AIS will look to come out firing.

Adelaide will be playing their second game of the weekend when it travels to AIS, but with players like Erin Phillips and Laura Summerton expect a showdown against the youngsters.

This one could be close as Adelaide recovers from Friday nights match, but look for Phillips and company to put pressure on the youngsters and take the victory.

Note: All match start times are local.

Related Articles:

Rookie Finnigan named Player of the Week (Tues Oct 25)
WNBL Review - Round Four (Mon Oct 24)