Bulleen began its quest for back-to-back WNBL titles with a resounding 88-68 win over Canberra in the grand final rematch on Saturday afternoon.
The Boomers kicked off proceedings by raising the championship banner to the rafters in front of a capacity crowd at home.
New recruit Samantha Richards led the way for Bulleen with 19 points and six assists, while Alice Kunek had a 13-point, 12-rebound double-double.
The hosts enjoyed a 15-point lead in the second period but the Capitals closed the gap to seven by half-time.
Opals star Liz Cambage, back in Australia after her first stint in the WNBA, added 10 points and five rebounds in a solid performance at centre despite talk that she was out of shape leading up to tip-off.
Bulleen dominated the third quarter 21-12 and led by as many as 25 points in the final period, capping off the blowout with a Chantella Perera three-pointer just before the buzzer.
Lighting it up
In Saturday's other encounter, Adelaide's 2011 campaign got off to a flying start with a 97-70 shellacking of West Coast Waves in the South Australian capital.
Opals veteran Suzy Batkovic led all comers with 29 points and 15 rebounds for the home side while Abby Bishop also had a strong performance with a 14-10 double-double.
Star guard Angela Marino played distributor for the Lightning with seven assists to go with her 14 points and Amy Lewis (18 points, four rebounds) put on an impressive showing with two three-pointers.
West Coast kept it close in the first period, trailing by just three points at the break, before Adelaide stepped it up a notch and stretched its lead to as much as 32 in the third term before cruising home.
The Waves outscored the Lightning by one in the final quarter but by then the result was already in the bag for the hosts.
West Coast shot a dismal 25-of-67 from the floor including just 2-of-9 from long range and failed to capitalise on Adelaide's turnovers, scoring just four points from 18 mistakes.
Melissa Marsh had a team-high 13 points while Jasmine Hooper (12) and Dymond Simon (11) helped out on the scoreboard.
Tags: wnbl, basketball, sport, bulleen-3105, vic, canberra-2600, act, australia, wa, perth-6000, sa, adelaide-5000 First posted October 08, 2011 19:41:09
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