A second-quarter 26-13 hatchet job from the home side rattled Fever, a team that has dominated almost every match to date this season.
The home team’s midcourt suffocated the travelling Perth outfit, forcing them into desperate long lobs and uncharacteristic turnovers.
Mwai Kumwenda was able to cash in on the offensive end for the Vixens with 49 goals at a clip of 96 percent.
The Fever composed themselves and fought back hard in the third quarter – claiming a vital bonus point in the process – but falling 20 goals behind was a mountain too big to climb.
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Vixens
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MATCH-UP
The Numbers
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Fever
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34
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Mins. in Possession
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25
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11
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Gain
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9
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8
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Intercepts
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4
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7
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Deflections
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11
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90
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Goal Shooting %
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89
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The Vixens applied plenty of early pressure on the Fever, forcing a rare Jhaniele Fowler miss, commanding possession and taking an early 5-3 lead.
Momentum was quickly wrestled back by the away team though, with wing defender Jess Anstiss terrorising the Vixens and worrying them out of possession.
There was plenty of physicality in the centre court, but the Vixens were able to win the arm wrestle and go on a five-goal run to steal a lead of 17-14 for the first quarter.
The Vixens came out firing in the second term, piling on the pressure and pushing their lead out to eight goals – forcing a Fever timeout.
West Coast was losing the possession battle with just 41 per cent of the ball and 10 turnovers to their name.
Coach Stacey Marinkovich laid down the law, demanding her players stop the long balls forward when under pressure.
By halfway through the quarter, the Vixens had piled on 13 goals to Fever’s four and were in complete control of the match.
Despite their coach’s orders to refrain from the long ball, Fever had few other options as they searched for quick goals.
Halftime came as a relief for the visitors, with the Vixens leading 43-27 at the break.
Fever needed changes and Marinkovich made plenty of them – with Kaylia Stanton moving to goal attack and Nat Medhurst shifting to wing attack being the most significant.
Things got worse for Fever, with captain and Samsung Diamond player Courtney Bruce falling on her already strapped left knee. Bruce denied an injury timeout and played on, but was in obvious distress.
The Fever found some fight, winning the third quarter 18-14 to cut the margin back to 12 goals, but the damage had already been done.
There was one last moment of controversy in the match, with Bruce taking a hit to the throat. Officials ordered her off the court as Bruce and Marinkovich remonstrated, with confusion over whether an injury or tactical timeout had been requested.
Q1: Vixens 17 v Fever 14
Q2: Vixens 26 v Fever 13
Q3: Vixens 14 v Fever 18
Q4: Vixens 17 v Fever 15
Suncorp Super Netball premiership points
Vixens 7
Fever 1
Vixens shooting statistics
Mwai Kumwenda 49/51
Tegan Philip 25/31
Fever shooting statistics
Jhaniele Fowler 56/60
Kaylia Stanton 3/5
Nat Medhurst 1/2
Vixens starting seven
GS: Mwai Kumwenda, GA: Tegan Philip, WA: Liz Watson, C: Kate Moloney, WD: Renae Ingles, GD: Jo Weston, GK: Emily Mannix
Fever starting seven
GS: Jhaniele Fowler, GA: Nat Medhurst, WA: Ingrid Colyer, C: Verity Charles, WD: Jess Anstiss, GD: Stacey Francis, GK: Courtney Bruce
Nissan MVP: Tegan Philip
Attendance: 5838
