But the win was soured by an ankle injury to West Coast centre Verity Charles, who was assisted from the court early in the third quarter and was unable to return.
The Fever led at all changes – claiming all four bonus points – largely because of the impact of new import Jhaniele Fowler who was unstoppable under the hoop with in her debut match in the Suncorp Super Netball competition.
She finished with 66/68 goals, the biggest individual haul the new competition has seen.
“I am happy, my girls fed me a lot (of ball) so I had to convert them,” she said.
“For a first hitout, I feel my girls and I put a good performance out there.”
The Thunderbirds went with the starting line up of Shimona Nelson, Charlee Hodges, Chelsea Pitman, Kaitlyn Bruce, Hannah Petty, Fiona Fowler and captain Leana de Bruin.
West Coast started with new recruit and Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Fowler, Natalie Medhurst, Ingrid Colyer, Verity Charles, Jessica Anstiss, Stacey Francis and captain Courtney Bruce.
The Fever’s attack is spearheaded by Fowler, the Jamaican star standing at close to 2m and looking to emulate her friend and national teammate Romelda Aitken in this league.
After playing in the ANZ Championship – both the former trans-Tasman version and the New Zealand competition – Fowler was recruited by the Fever as their marquee signing.
Adelaide have recruited the most imports for the 2018 season, building a roster of international talent structured around defence which was always going to be an interesting match up against West Coast’s formidable attacking circle.
That was highlighted early, as the Thunderbirds turned the ball over three times but held their nerve in defence as both teams were locked at 3-3 in the opening exchanges.
But Fowler showed why she will be a major threat in the league, with an 11/11 start to guide the Fever out to a 13-9 lead. She was unstoppable in the first term, finishing with an amazing 20/20 as the Fever opened up a sizeable 22-14 advantage at the first break.
The Thunderbirds put extra defenders on Fowler, but that only opened up opportunities for former Diamond Medhurst in a front court combination Adelaide were at a loss to contain.
That turned to frustration, with the Thunderbirds penalised 25 times to the Fever’s eight in the early stages of the second quarter.
Coach Dan Ryan called for Adelaide to push their defence outside of the circle, which started to reap rewards – both teams scoring evenly in the second quarter, although the Thunderbirds still had a mountain to climb.
Fowler had only missed once by halftime, shooting 37/38 as West Coast went into the main break leading 39-26. And they marched on in the third quarter, opening up a 10-5 scoring run to extend the lead to 49-32 before Adelaide called a timeout in an attempt to stem the flow.
But West Coast carried a 59-42 lead into the final quarter, a lead that was too large a mountain for Adelaide to climb.
The Adelaide Thunderbirds will next meet GIANTS at 2.30pm, May 5 at Priceline Stadium in Adelaide.
West Coast Fever will play the Collingwood Magpies at 7pm, May 5 at 7pm at Perth Arena.
Official Result:
Thunderbirds shooting statistics
Shimona Nelson 37/42
Abigail Latu-Meafou 10/13
Fever shooting statistics
Jhaniele Fowler 66/68
Natalie Medhurst 5/6
