By Caitlin Greenwood
In a milestone match marking Simone McKinnis’ 200th game as a national league head coach, it was the NSW Swifts who spoiled the celebration at Ken Rosewall Arena, claiming a hard-fought victory over the Melbourne Vixens to put one hand on the Sargeant-McKinnis Cup.
A rowdy Sydney crowd brought the energy from the outset, but it was the Vixens who drew first blood, capitalising on early errors from the Swifts to establish a three-goal lead after a scrappy opening quarter.
Sarah Klau came out hunting for the Swifts in the second, grabbing three critical intercepts within the opening minutes to keep her side in the hunt. Her presence at the back was unrelenting—finishing the night with a career-best stat line of 2 rebounds, 5 intercepts, 9 gains and 13 deflections.
The Vixens held their lead deep into the quarter, with co-captain Kate Moloney providing strong service through the midcourt. But just before half-time, a trademark super shot from Helen Housby lifted the Swifts and gave the home side a 30–27 edge heading into the break.
Hear her roar! Helen Housby delivered a super shot on the buzzer to seal the 59-51 win.Melbourne opened the second half with the first point, but the Swifts responded with a burst of momentum that saw them stretch the lead and force a tactical timeout from the visitors. The Vixens introduced Lily Graham into the attack, while Moloney continued to battle hard, finishing with 11 assists, 22 feeds, and an intercept in a tireless performance.
Just two points the difference at the start of the final quarter, and it was the Swifts who show their intent, with Nweke and Housby posting the first two points. The home side were six points clear when McKinnis called timeout, returned Keira Austin to the court and brought on the much-anticipated Maggie Caris in defence.
The Vixens forced a couple of late turnovers, but they couldn’t convert them into scoreboard pressure. A final super shot from Housby in the dying minutes sealed the eight-point win.
Post-match, Swifts head coach Briony Akle was full of praise for her star defender and tonight's Player of the Match.
“Sarah’s working extremely hard, as is the whole defence end,” Akle said.
“I think we've had one-on-ones with Sarah this week and she said she wants to get more hand on ball. I think she certainly did her homework—she's been training out of the park.
"For her, we've had tall shooters for the last few weeks in a row, and to have that moving circle to maybe play a different style than we've had to play, she's certainly so focused and getting ball in hand. Super proud of her.”
