The Swifts fought hard at the International Convention Centre but were never truly in the hunt against a well-drilled Giants outfit that is now just three premiership points behind Fever.
MATCH-UP
THE NUMBERS
| |
Giants |
Swifts |
| Mins in Possession |
31 |
27 |
| Gain |
13 |
12 |
| Intercepts |
7 |
2 |
| Defections |
19 |
20 |
| Goal Shooting % |
83 |
88 |
The Giants finished with seven intercepts in telling stats that highlighted their defensive pressure throughout the match.
They enjoyed the faster start, cruising out to a 7-3 lead and forcing an early Swifts timeout.
Giants were employing a lockdown brand of one-on-one defence that was suffocating the Swifts, who were only able to conjure up six goals by the midway point of the quarter.
In total, the Swifts turned the ball over seven times and committed 11 penalties to five as the Giants frustrated them and took a 19-13 lead into quarter time.
The Swifts changed the game plan after the break, with players peeling off into space and passes beginning to stick.
It brought the margin back to within four goals momentarily, but the Giants front court of Nissan MVP Jo Harten and Susan Pettitt were finding space at will and nailing goals from long range to blow the lead out to seven.
Even when the duo missed, they were quick to pick up the scraps with offensive rebounds and the match started to slide away from the Swifts midway through the quarter – with the Giants leading 29-20.
The Swifts needed something, and they engineered it through a 5-1 run – built on strong defensive pressure to cut the margin back to five goals.
The Swifts speed in the mid-court helped them to start finding gaps and they won the bonus point for the quarter, but still trailed 36-31 at halftime.
The Giants elected to mix things up in the third quarter, with Kristina Brice coming in at goal shooter for Pettitt, while Swifts coach Briony Akle made a host of changes in the second quarter in a bid to chase down the deficit.
The Swifts were willing to put in the hard yards, as they have all season, and grafted their way back into the match – getting to within three goals.
A string of late turnovers though, handed the momentum back to the Giants who won the bonus point for the quarter and took a 50-44 lead into the final break.
The Giants were managing to get all the little things right, the defensive squeeze, the intercept count and forcing turnovers to make life difficult for the Swifts.
And even though the Swifts fought hard until the final whistle, they were unable to reel in the deficit and the Giants closed out their second win in a row to take back the Carole Sykes Memorial Trophy.
Q1: GIANTS 19 v Swifts 13
Q2: GIANTS 17 v Swifts 18
Q3: GIANTS 14 v Swifts 13
Q4: GIANTS 16 v Swifts 12
Suncorp Super Premiership points
GIANTS Netball 7
NSW Swifts 1
GIANTS shooting statistics
Susan Pettitt 19/21
Jo Harten 29/37
Kristina Brice 18/21
Swifts shooting statistics
Sam Wallace 40/45
Helen Housby 16/18
GIANTS starting seven
GS: Susan Pettitt, GA: Jo Harten, WA: Kim Green, C: Serena Guthrie, WD: Jamie-Lee Price, GD: Bec Bulley, GK: Sam Poolman
Swifts starting seven
GS: Sam Wallace, GA: Helen Housby, WA: Paige Hadley, C: Maddy Proud, WD: Abbey McCulloch, GD: Maddy Turner, GK: Sarah Klau
Nissan MVP: Jo Harten
