Lightning strike twice in Queensland

Updated October 21, 2012 19:08:29

Adelaide Lightning completed their Queensland road double in the WNBL despite losing star centre Suzy Batkovic to injury.

Batkovic sat out Sunday's 80-65 win over Townsville after she slipped and hurt her ankle while dominating on Friday night against Logan.

The two wins gave the Lightning a 4-1 start over the opening three rounds, just behind Bendigo's perfect 5-0 run.

Jennifer Screen scored 23 points and coach Peter Buckle praised the second half from Angela Marino, who finished with 18 points.

Nadeen Payne had 11 rebounds, while Shanavia Dowdell top-scored for the Fire with 16.

The loss left Townsville with a 2-2 record and Logan are on 1-3.

"Everybody knows the Queensland road trip is very tough," Buckle said.

"Friday night's game was as physical and as tough as it could be.

"Then we backed it up on Sunday - that was an outstanding team performance."

Adelaide was also without London Olympian Laura Hodges (ankle) for the Queensland trip, but Buckle is hopeful she and Batkovic will return for Saturday night's away clash with West Coast.

Lightning forward Molly Lewis was another casualty from the weekend with a calf muscle injury.

Also on Sunday, reigning champion Dandenong was too strong for West Coast at home, winning 103-71.

Jenna O'Hea led the Rangers' scoring with 22, while Kathleen MacLeod (19 points, 10 rebounds) and Carley Mijovic (17 and 12) were also prominent.

Deanna Smith was the standout for the Waves, shooting 20 points as they lost their two road games over the weekend.

The Rangers have two wins from three games and West Coast is 1-3.

AAP

Tags: wnbl, basketball, sport, townsville-4810, qld, adelaide-5000, sa, perth-6000, wa, dandenong-3175, vic, australia

First posted October 21, 2012 19:08:29

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Lightning strike in Bendigo

Updated February 04, 2012 23:24:21

WNBL leader Adelaide took care of the Spirit in overtime thanks to veteran centre Suzy Batkovic with a 97-87 win in Bendigo on Saturday night.

Returning from a back injury, Batkovic finished with 26 points, 13 rebounds and five assists to help push the Lightning over the edge.

The visitors dominated the extra period, outscoring Bendigo 15-5 after Batkovic's field goal tied things up at 82-82 with 13 seconds left in regulation time.

Angela Marino added 21 points and Jo Hill had 20 for the Lightning, while Kristi Harrower was the best of the Spirit with 28, four rebounds and eight assists.

In Saturday night's other clash, perennial struggler AIS pulled off a 78-63 win over West Coast in Alice Springs.

Sara Blicavs had a game-high 20 points to go with 10 rebounds and five assists, countering Waves forward Rohanee Cox's influence down low.

Cox had 14 points and 10 boards in the loss, while Melissa Marsh led West Coast with 18 points.

Tags: wnbl, basketball, sport, bendigo-3550, vic, adelaide-5000, sa, australia

First posted February 04, 2012 22:58:32

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Rangers edge Lightning to book final berth

Updated March 04, 2012 20:14:38

Dandenong's Jenna O'Hea can look forward to playing her former side Bulleen in the first all-Victorian WNBL grand final in 25 years, after starring in a 91-78 preliminary final away win over minor premier Adelaide on Sunday.

The red-hot Rangers posted their eighth straight victory and their third in four matches this season against the Lightning, who went out of the finals in straight sets.

Adelaide looked in control after a 14-2 run either side of half-time gave the hosts a 48-35 lead early in the third quarter.

Dandenong's revival was sparked by former Bulleen junior and Adelaide player Tegan Cunningham, who scored 10 of her 18 points in the third quarter.

Trailing 60-58 at the last change, Dandenong scored the first six points of the final term and outscored Adelaide 33-18 in a one-sided quarter.

O'Hea, who was part of Bulleen's title winning team last year, almost amassed a triple double, tallying 28 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.

Adelaide centre Suzy Batkovic hit a match-high 34, but her only real support came from Amy Lewis who scored 17, eight of them in the final quarter after Dandenong established a double-digit advantage.

Dandenong has not won a WNBL title since 2004-05 and its last grand final appearance was the following season.

The Rangers were languishing in seventh spot before beginning the late season surge that has carried them to next Sunday's grand final in Melbourne.

"Our greatest fans probably wouldn't have thought this was possible, it's very exciting for us," O'Hea told Grandstand.

Dandenong shot at 55 per cent for the game and at better than 60 per cent after quarter time.

O'Hea had plenty of help apart from Cunningham, with Canadian centre Krista Phillips tallying 14 points and 14 rebounds, Kathleen MacLeod scoring 13 points and six assists and Stephanie Cumming netting 12 points.

Cumming appeared to suffer a corked thigh.

Adelaide lost veteran Jo Hill with a calf injury in the the second quarter and finished the season with three straight losses.

"This is a wake-up call, but it's also sad, we're a better team than what we showed the last few weeks," Batkovic told Grandstand.

Bulleen beat Dandenong by margins of five, six and 10 in their three regular season encounters.

"We haven't beaten Bulleen this year, so it's going to be another torrid affair," Dandenong coach Mark Wright said.

"I think they are desperate to hang onto the crown and we are just as desperate to take it off them."

AAP

Tags: wnbl, basketball, sport, vic, dandenong-3175, adelaide-5000

First posted March 04, 2012 17:28:04

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Lightning overhaul Thunder

Updated January 28, 2012 00:07:30

Adelaide Lightning produced a stunning final quarter to beat the Thunder 63-52 in their WNBL game at Logan Metro Indoor Sports Centre.

The Thunder held a narrow 43-42 lead at three-quarter time, but were outscored by the Lightning 21-9 in the fourth term with Abby Bishop prominent for the visitors with a double-double of 21 points and 13 rebounds.

Jenni Screen also posted a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds, while Renae Camino top scored for the Thunder with a 15-point tally.

Tags: wnbl, basketball, sport, logan-city-dc-4114, qld, australia

First posted January 28, 2012 00:07:30

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Table-topping Lightning zaps West Coast

Updated January 14, 2012 08:38:56

Adelaide Lightning stayed on top of the WNBL ladder with a 33-point thrashing of the West Coast Waves in Perth on Friday night.

The Lightning led from the get-go in the 84-51 win and outscored their hosts convincingly in each of the first three quarters, including a 25-6 blow-out in the third period.

The Waves rallied to save face and edge the fourth 15-14, but it was not nearly enough to reverse the thrashing.

Suzy Batkovic-Brown led the demolition with 23 points for Adelaide with Abby Bishop (17 points) and Angela Marino (14 points) in support.

The win kept Adelaide two wins clear at the top of the table, while West Coast's sorry season continues, tied for bottom place with AIS.

AIS did not fare any better on Friday, losing 82-60 to the Fire in Townsville.

Nadeen Payne (15 points), Mia Newley (14) and Micaela Cocks (13) all combined to comfortably dispatch the bottom-placed side and keep Townsville in the hunt in fourth spot.

Bulleen had the edge over Sydney University thanks to Elizabeth Cambage's double-double in the Boomers' 80-71 win in Sydney.

Cambage bagged 10 rebounds and 23 points for the Boomers to prove the difference between the two sides, as the Flames' Amy Denson (28 points) and Belinda Snell (21) somehow found themselves on the losing side.

Bendigo Spirit also persevered in a tight 84-77 win over Dandenong thanks to Deanna Smith's 30 points on the court.

Bulleen stayed second ahead of third-placed Sydney, while Bendigo's win leaves it fifth and Dandenong lost ground in the hunt for finals spots in seventh.

Tags: wnbl, basketball, sport, canberra-2600, act, australia, the-university-of-sydney-2006, nsw, dandenong-3175, bulleen-3105, vic, perth-6000, wa, adelaide-5000, sa

First posted January 14, 2012 08:38:56

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Lightning strike win over Fire

Updated January 08, 2012 08:29:58

The Lightning posted an 80-68 victory over Townsville Fire in their WNBL clash at Adelaide Arena.

Suzy Batkovic-Brown led the scoring for the home side with a game-high 34 points, while Abby Bishop chipped in with a valuable 19 points.

Mia Newley was productive for the Fire with 12 points.

In other results, Sydney University Flames defeated AIS 62-53 in Canberra, Logan triumphed 76-71 at home over Dandenong and Bendigo Spirit thrashed West Coast Waves 82-48 at WA Basketball Centre.

Tags: wnbl, basketball, sport, adelaide-5000

First posted January 08, 2012 00:01:04

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Lightning too strong for Thunder

Updated December 10, 2011 22:26:22

The Lightning posted a comfortable 88-67 victory over Logan Thunder at Adelaide Arena.

Suzy Batkovic-Brown led the scoring for the Lightning via a 27-point haul, while Renae Camino impressed for the Thunder with 24 points.

In other results, Dandenong Rangers won on the road through a 73-64 result over the Fire in Townsville, the Spirit triumphed 80-58 against AIS at Bendigo Stadium and Sydney Uni Flames downed Canberra Capitals 76-70 at AIS Arena.

Tags: wnbl, basketball, sport, adelaide-5000

First posted December 10, 2011 22:26:22

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Lightning strike against hapless Caps

Updated December 04, 2011 17:48:39

WNBL leader Adelaide came from behind to record an 84-75 win over the struggling Capitals in the South Australian capital on Sunday.

Canberra started strong and enjoyed a seven-point advantage at half-time but that was all but erased in the third quarter.

With just a one-point buffer going into the final term the Capitals went just 4-for-14 for eight points as the Lightning blew past them to take the contest comfortably.

Veteran Adelaide centre Suzy Batkovic led all scorers with 25 points while Abby Bishop had an 18-point, 11-rebound double-double and Amy Lewis added 13.

Jessica Bibby was the stand-out for Canberra with 21 points while four other Capitals registered double-figure hauls, but poor shooting in the fourth quarter was too much to overcome.

In Sunday's other clash, Bendigo walked all over AIS 71-30 in Canberra.

Deanna Smith (19), Tess Madgen (18) and Gabrielle Richards (11) led the charge for the Spirit against the perennial strugglers.

Tags: wnbl, basketball, sport, adelaide-5000, canberra-2600

First posted December 04, 2011 17:48:39

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Uni holds off fast-finishing Lightning

Updated October 14, 2011 22:42:46

Sydney Uni proved it will a team to be reckoned with this WNBL season after taking down the Lightning 70-65 at Adelaide Arena.

The Flames prevailed for a thrilling victory in the final minutes, having squandered a 14-point third-term lead.

The Lightning cut the deficit back to nine early in the final term and just one with only minutes remaining, making the visitors sweat.

But Sydney ultimately held on, inspired by a dominant performance from centre Suzy Batkovic who recorded a double-double of 20 points and 13 rebounds.

Team-mate Amy Denson led all scorers with 25 points.

In Friday evening's other encounter, Townsville made it two wins from as many matches to start the season, easily accounting for traditional strugglers the AIS 84-60 in Canberra.

The Fire were never threatened after cruising to a 27-14 quarter-time lead, going on to record a comfortable victory as they prepare to take on the Capitals on Saturday night.

New recruit Jess Foley shone for the Fire with 17 points, while import Shanavia Dowdell continued to impress with a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Newcomer Rosie Fadljevic top-scored for the students with 13 points.

Tags: wnbl, basketball, sport, adelaide-5000, sa, sydney-2000, nsw, canberra-2600, act, townsville-4810, qld, australia

First posted October 14, 2011 22:42:46

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