By Charlotte Knoke
The West Coast Fever produced a clinical four-quarter performance, winning by a huge 34 goals (97-63) against the Queensland Firebirds.
After a disappointing 1-point loss last week, the West Coast Fever came into their round ten clash with a point to prove.
The home side started the match strongly, as Courtney Bruce had an immediate impact and caused an early turnover for the home side.
Some misplaced feeds and missed shots from the Queensland Firebirds gave the Fever possession and they were able to capitalise, giving them an early lead.
Donnell Wallam scored the first supershot of the game for the Firebirds, and she looked confident going to post. Sasha Glasgow then responded with a supershot of her own at the other end of the court. Both shooters were going supershot-for-supershot in the final minutes of the quarter.
The Fever got out to a 10 goal lead, and finished the first quarter up 27-17.
Both sides remained goal-for-goal for the first few minutes of the second quarter.
The connection between the Firebirds’ midcourters and shooters started to look stronger as the quarter progressed.
Ash Unie picked up a much-needed intercept for the Firebirds at the top of the circle, but the ball fell over the baseline and the Fever regained possession.
Emily Moore missed a crucial supershot for the Firebirds and Bruce picked up the rebound, giving the Fever the opportunity to capitalise.
The Power Five period proved detrimental for the Firebirds in the second quarter due to multiple missed supershots from both shooters. Alternatively, the Power Five was punishing from the Fever as they were able to extend their lead even further.
The Fever headed into halftime with a huge 20 goal lead (50-30).
The Fever continued their dominance in the third quarter.
Ruby Bakewell-Doran picked up a crucial intercept for the Firebirds early in the third quarter, and the visitors capitalised through Wallam. But the Fever regained possession through some turnovers of their own, and were able to extend their lead out further.
Glasgow continued her accuracy in the supershot zone, punishing the Firebirds on the scoreboard. Stower then responded with her own supershot at the other end.
Bruce was out hunting and picked up a clean intercept for the Fever, and was rewarded with another supershot from Glasgow.
The Fever extended their lead and headed into the final quarter up 71-48.
The transition down court was quick and seamless for the Fever in the final quarter.
The Fever seemed to be picking up every loose or fumbled ball, which really contributed to their scoreboard dominance.
Bruce was punishing in defence, picking up multiple intercepts for the Fever.
Wallam scored a few much-needed supershots for the Firebirds, but the margin was just too big for the visitors to claw back.
It was an overall strong performance from all of the Fever players, with the home side producing a strong four-quarter game all the way down the court.
Sasha Glasgow was named player of the match and ended the game on 164 Nissan Net Points.
The Fever recorded the biggest score in a single game in Suncorp Super Netball history, scoring a huge 97 goals. They also achieved the largest winning margin in the 2023 season so far, winning by a whopping 34 goals (97-63).
