Fever Undone at Home to Thunderbirds

The West Coast Fever has been out muscled 36-48 by the Adelaide Thunderbirds in Sunday’s ANZ Championship clash at Challenge Stadium, Perth.

The Thunderbirds led at every-change and were never really threatened by a Fever team that now sits fifth in the standings with a two win -three loss record.

The Thunderbirds were well controlled by the wise heads of Natalie von Bertouch and Rebecca Bulley, whilst in attack Erin Bell (21 goals) and Carla Borrego (27 goals) kept the score-board ticking over.

WAIS athlete and Fever goal shooter Caitlin Bassett again led the lines for the hosts with 23 goals, and there were certainly positives for the WA team, with strong performances from WAIS scholarship holders Andrea Gilmore and Josie Janz off the bench.

The Thunderbirds dominance across the court and over four quarters was represented in the match stats, with the Fever ahead in bad passes, whilst the Adelaide outfit held sway with more intercepts and turnover ball.

The schedule gets no easier for the Fever in round six, with a daunting trip to New Zealand to face perennial challengers Waikato BOP Magic next weekend.

With one match remaining to complete round five, West Coast Fever shooter Caitlin Bassett leads the competition goal shooting ranks, with 171 goals at 87.7% accuracy. WAIS athlete Andrea Gilmore also features in the stats leaders, fifth in the deflections category, with 18 effective deflections to her name to date.