The end of the first quarter saw the Fever enjoy a 17-12 lead before the Vixens won the second by one to reduce the halftime deficit to four, with the Fever leading 32-28.
The third quarter saw the Vixens chip into the lead a little more to set up a tense fourth quarter with the score now being 48-46 in favour of the Fever.
The teams fought to the end in the final stanza, with the Fever eventually coming out 62-61 winners.
Fowler, who has won the league’s player of the year award for the past five seasons, shot a perfect 55/55 to lead the Fever to a win to kick off the defence of their 2022 title.
Elsewhere, Shimona Nelson scored 53 goals from as many attempts to lead the Collingwood Magpies to a 71-63 win over the New South Wales Swifts, for whom Romelda Aiken-George scored 30 goals from 35 attempts.
Having lost to New South Wales Swifts by a single goal last week, and three of their last four to slip to third in the league table, the Fever responded by crushing the Firebirds 97-63 at the RAC Arena. The 97 goals scored was the highest number of goals scored in a single match in the league.
Led by Jhaniele Fowler’s 52 goals from 56 attempts and Sasha Glasgow’s perfect 15 of 15, the Fever led by 10 (27-17) at the end of the first quarter and extended the lead to 20 at half time after outscoring Queensland 23-13 in the second.
The Firebirds managed to rally in the third quarter in which they were outscored 21-18 but the Fever put their foot back down on their necks in the final quarter 26-15 to win by a massive 34 goals.
Donnell Wallam led the scoring for the Firebirds with 37 goals from 40 attempts.
Fowler scored her 500th goal of the season and ended the match with a tally of 552, 75 more than Wallam.
The Fever’s seventh win of the season saw them maintain third place in the league standings despite Adelaide Thunderbirds falling to a massive 21-point loss to Melbourne Vixens on Saturday.
The league leaders suffered only their second loss of the season 60-39 due mainly to outstanding defensive play by the Vixen’s mid-court.
Shamera Sterling had a strong start for the Thunderbirds, with a rebound, two intercepts, and a deflection in a formidable first term. Her performance spurred the Thunderbirds to a three-point lead (14-11) over the Vixens as the first quarter came to a close.
However, the Vixens defense were relentless. Emily Mannix had an impressive display with five intercepts, four deflections as the Vixens stamped their authority on the encounter.
Mwai Kumwenda (21/22) and Kiera Austin (23/30) led the scoring for the Vixens while Eleanor Cardwell scored 21 of 24 and Georgie Horjus scored eight goals for the Thunderbirds.
In another lop-sided match on Saturday, Romelda Aiken-George scored 26 from 32 attempts, Helen Housby 14 from 17 and Sophie Fawns 17 from 22 as the New South Wales Swifts swamped Collingwood Magpies 85-56 at the Ken Rosewall Arena despite Shimona Nelson’s 35 goals from just 37 attempts.
It was the Swifts’ largest margin of victory this season.
The weekend results mean that Romelda Aiken George’s Swifts will take on Shamera Sterling’s Thunderbirds at Qudos Bank Arena on Saturday, June 24, the in the first of two semi-final clashes. The winner will face victor of the West Coast Fever/Melbourne Vixens clash at the RAC Arena on Sunday, June 25.
On Saturday, league leaders New South Wales Swifts fell victim to the Adelaide Thunderbirds who won the electrifying encounter 60-57 at the Ken Rosewall Arena. Thunderbirds led 32-29 at half-time but by the end of the third both teams were locked on 42 points apiece heading into the crucial fourth quarter.
Thunderbirds edged it taking the quarter 18-15 to seal victory.
Eleanor Cardwell scored 25 goals and Lucy Austin 16 for the Thunderbirds, who moved back into second place with their ninth win of the season and broke a nine-game winning streak by the Swifts for whom Romelda Aiken George scored 27 which included her 8000th goal in the league. Helen Housby supported with 11 goals.
Defending champions West Coast Fever slipped back to third after going down 65-62 Collingwood Magpies at the Silverdome to record their fifth loss of the season.
In her last match as a Magpie, Shimona Nelson scored 51 goals which proved to be enough to overcome the 53 scored by Fever’s Jhaniele Fowler and help script the franchise’s fairytale ending.
Meanwhile, the Sunshine Coast Lightning burned the Queensland Firebirds 66-60 and GIANTS defeated Melbourne Vixens 60-57.
Fowler’s Fever now has seven wins from nine games to lead the eight-team table with 28 points
Jamaican goal shooter Shimona Nelson was on fire to help the Collingwood Magpies secure a 71-67 win over the Queensland Firebirds at the MyState Bank Arena in Tasmania.
Nelson scored 65 goals from 66 attempts to help the Magpies move to sixth in the table with 16 points from nine matches.
Goal defence Lattanya Wilson and goalkeeper Shamera Sterling each snatched three rebounds but they weren’t enough to prevent their Adelaide Thunderbirds from going down 40-54 to the New South Wales Swifts at the Ken Rosewall Arena.
The Thunderbirds are now seventh in the table with 12 points from nine games.
Jhaniele Fowler, meanwhile, led the West Coast Fever to another victory, this time over the Adelaide Thunderbirds.
Nelson scored 54 goals from 55 attempts and Gabriela Sinclair six goals from seven attempts for the Magpies that led 17-15 at the end of the first quarter. The scores were tied at 33-33 at half-time as Romelda Aiken, who scored 33 goals from 37 attempts and Gretel Bueta 18 goals from 22 attempts, kept it close.
However, the Magpies outscored the Firebirds 19-16 in the third. Those three goals made all the difference as the teams battled to 16 goals apiece in the final quarter.
Fowler continued her dominant play this season scoring 54 goals from 57 attempts and Sasha Glasgow seven from 10, as the West Coast Fever defeated the Adelaide Thunderbirds 70-62.
The teams were tied at 34-34 at half-time but the Fever outscored their opponents 21-14 and 15-14 in the third and fourth quarters, respectively to pull off the eight-goal victory.
Lenise Potgieter scored 25 goals from 26 attempts and Georgie Horjus 20 from 24 for the losers.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, New South Wales Swifts went down 54-58 to the Sunshine Coast Lightning despite 36 goals from Samantha Wallace and 11 from Helen Hornsby.
Cara Koenen scored 38 goals for the Lightning and was supported by 12 goals from Steph Wood.
The win means the Swifts, led by Romelda Aiken-George, who scored 28 of 34, leapfrogged the Fever into second place in the standings going into round 10 of the competition.
Jhaniele Fowler, the league’s leading scorer, scored a game-high 53 goals from 55 shots, and Natalie Butler three of four for the Fever, who were without their vice-captain Jess Anstiss and goal attack Sasha Glasgow, who were ruled out due to Covid-19 Health and Safety Protocols.
The Swifts led 32-20 at half-time and despite a late rally from the Fever, they came up a goal short in the end.
Meanwhile, the Adelaide Thunderbirds maintained their position at the top of the standings after crushing the Queensland Firebirds 63-46.
Eleanor Cardwell led the scoring for the Thunderbirds with 27 from 32 and Lucy Austin, who supported with 19 from 21, while Shamera Sterling had six interceptions in what was a close match heading into the final quarter.
However, the Thunderbirds dominated the final stanza 24-9 to claim victory.
Shimona Nelson’s perfect night, scoring 46 goals from as many attempts, was unable to prevent the Collingwood Magpies from going down 69-56 to GIANTS.
The towering Jamaican goal shooter scored 60 of 61 shots as the defending champions outscored their opponents 25-15 and 18-15 over the first two quarters to take a 13-goal lead into the half-time break. Sasha Glasgow who was a perfect five for five and scored three of six super shots was also key to the victory as the Firebirds provided the champions with a genuine scare.
Whereas the Fever were dominant in the first half, the Firebirds showed that they too could play that game in the second.
Donnell Wallan, who scored 48 goals from 53 attempts and sunk seven of 10 super shots in the game, helped the Firebirds storm back to outscore the Fever 21-15 in the third and 25-20 in the final stanza. She got support from Emily Moore who was perfect inside the circle and who hit one of two super shots and Mia Mayer (2/2) and scored one of two super shots to come within two goals of the champions.
However, that was as close as they would get as the Fever desperately held on for the win.
Fowler has missed only four attempts on goal in five matches this season, scoring 280 goals from 284 attempts.
Meanwhile, Romelda Aiken-George scored 43 goals from 49 attempts to lead the New South Wales Swifts to a close 64-63 win over Sunshine Coast Lightning at the UniSC Arena.
Over at the Ken Rosewall Arena, Shimona Nelson scored 36 goals from 38 attempts but her Collingwood Magies lost 59-55 to GIANTS for whom Jo Harten scored 33 from 35 and Sophie Dwyer 20 from 22.
Wallace’s 43 goals came from 45 attempts as the Swifts outscored the Magpies 19-15 in the second quarter to take a four-goal lead into half-time. The first quarter ended 14-14.
Led by Nelson, who had 43 attempts at goal and Gabrielle Sinclair, who was perfect from the field for her six goals, the Magpies closed the gap when they outscored the Swifts 15-12 in the third quarter to keep things close.
However, the third-place Swifts rallied to score 17 goals to the Magpies’ nine to close out the match and seal their third victory of the season.
In the other match played today, Shamera Sterling pulled in two rebounds but had 17 penalties as the Adelaide Thunderbirds lost 58-59 to the Sunshine Coast Lightning. It was their fifth loss on the trot and remain anchored to the bottom of the table.
Lenise Potgieter led the scoring for the Thunderbirds with 34 goals and Georgie Horjus had 20 but Cara Koenen’s 26 goals and Steph Wood’s 16 enough to emerge one-point victors.
On Saturday, the Melbourne Vixens ran out 66-64 winners over Queensland Firebirds, their first win of the season.
The Vixens were near-perfect shooting as Mwai Kumwenda scored 27 goals from just 28 attempts and Rahni Samason scored 19 from 19.
Meanwhile, Romelda Aiken scored 39 goals and Gretel Bueta 16, as the Firebirds lost their fourth match in five games.
Led by Eleanor Cardwell near perfect 26 goals from 27 attempts and Lucy Austin’s 13 from 15, Thunderbirds led 18-13 at the end of the first quarter. However, Jo Harten who scored 23 goals from 25 shots and Sophie Dwyer (17/20) closed the gap to three by half-time as GIANTS outscored Thunderbirds 15-13 in the second stanza.
GIANTS dominated the third quarter 13-9 and take a slim lead into the final quarter of the game but Thunderbirds rallied to win the quarter 14-9 and take the game 54-50 for their sixth win of the season.
Fever, meanwhile, went down 74-73 in a thriller to Melbourne Vixens despite a game-high 48 goals of 49 attempts from the league top scorer Jhaniele Fowler, who now has 446 goals on the season.
However, after both teams traded goals for the entire match, it was Kiera Austin’s super shot at the buzzer than kept the Vixens unbeaten at home this season and handed the defending champions their second loss of the season.
Mwai Kumwenda led the Vixens with 45 goals from 50 attempts while Austin scored 23 from 29 for her side that outscored Fever 18-16 in the first quarter before sharing honours 19-19 in the second to take a two goal lead into the break.
Fever rallied to take the third quarter 19-16 but thanks to Austin’s super shot, Vixens edged the final quarter 21-19 to secure their fifth win of the season.
In the battle between the teams at the foot of the table, Donnell Wallam scored a game high 64 goals from 65 attempts to lead the Queensland Firebirds to their second win of the season, a 73-67 win over Collingwood Magpies.
Shimona Nelson scored 56 goals from 58 attempts for the Magpies who were losing their sixth game of the season.
Shimona Nelson scored 44 goals and Sophie Garbin nine, in a 100 per cent shooting effort as the Magpies in their final season in the Suncorp Super Netball league overcame the defensive efforts of Shamera Sterling and Latanya Wilson.
Collingwood led 16-12 after the first quarter and held a 27-23 lead at half time.
Collingwood widened their lead with another 16-12 effort in the third quarter and held on for the win despite a fourth-quarter rally from Thunderbirds who outscored Collinwood 15-10.
Eleanor Cardwell scored 27 goals from 29 attempts in the loss that saw Thunderbirds’ record fall to second place in the league table with eight wins, one draw and three losses this season.
The new league leaders are the New South Wales Swifts who defeated GIANTS 68-63 thanks in part to Romelda Aikens-George’s 32 goals from 39 attempts and Helen Housby’s 100 percent shooting for 18 goals.
Matisse Leatherbarrow and Jo Harten each scored 13 goals while Sophie Dwyer had 11 from 13 in the losing cause.
The Swifts now boast a record of nine wins, one draw and two losses after 12 rounds.
In the other game on Saturday, Queensland Firebirds defeated Melboune Vixens 76-71.
In the match played at the Townsville Entertainment and Convention Centre, Nelson scored her goals from just 44 attempts but the cellar-dwellers were never in a position to claim what would have been only their second win of the season, losing 63-53 to second-placed Sunshine Coast Lightning.
Led by Cara Koenen’s 41 goals from 45 attempts, the Lightning won each quarter 16-12, 19-15, 14-13, 14-13 for their ninth win of the season.
Nelson teammate Gabrielle Sinclair shot seven of nine in the losing effort.
Fowler, the Suncorp Super Netball League’s leading scorer, converted 42 of 43 attempts but it was not enough to prevent the reigning champions from falling to their fourth defeat of the season.
Wilson earned 74.5 Nissan Net Points and Sterling 63 for defensive play that held off the defending champions who led 20-12 after the first quarter. However, the league leaders managed to close the gap by the half-time interval after outscoring Fever 14-11 in the second.
The low-scoring encounter saw the Thunderbirds win the third and fourth quarters, 13-10 and 15-12, respectively to snatch another close win. Eleanor Cardwell converted 26 of her 30 shots and Lucy Austin scored six from six in the hard-fought victory.
Adelaide Thunderbirds now have eight wins and just two losses from their 11 games this season while Fever dropped to seven wins and four losses and are only third on goal difference over Melbourne Vixens who also have a record of seven wins and four losses.
The Vixens suffered their fourth loss of the season going down 70-62 to New South Wales Swifts, who got 29 goals from Romelda Aiken-George from 34 attempts and a perfect 16 from 16 from Helen Housby.
Mwai Kumwenda scored 33 of her 35 attempts for the Vixens.
Meanwhile, Shimona Nelson scored 53 goals from 56 attempts for the Collingwood Magpies, whose miserable season will be their last in the Suncorp Super Netball League, as they suffered yet another defeat.
The Magpies were outscored 66-62 by the Sunshine Coast Lightning in what was their ninth loss of the season.
Cara Koenen scored 34 from 35 and Steph Wood 20/24 for the Lightning who were picking up their fourth win of the season and are current fifth in the league standings.
After winning a maiden title with the Adelaide Thunderbirds and taking the club’s champion award, Sterling became just the second Jamaican player in the tournament’s history to win the coveted Player of the Year accolade, at Netball Australia’s Award ceremony on Saturday.
The ever-impressive goalkeeper joined ace shooter Jhaniele Fowler, who won the award for the last five years consecutively from 2018 to 2022, and in the process, ensured that it became six on the trot for Jamaican players.
Sterling, 27, has been pivotal to the Thunderbirds’ defensive end ever since she burst onto the scene in 2019, becoming an instant fan favorite.
In her fifth season in the league, the Sunshine Girl standout assisted the Thunderbirds to the club’s first premiership in a decade, when they defeated the NSW Swifts in an epic grand final where she recorded seven crucial gains, three intercepts and three rebounds.
For this year, sterling led the league with 118 deflections, a substantial 15 more than the second-highest ranked player, and she also topped the league with 46 interceptions, to underline her credentials as one of, if not, the world’s best.
Sterling was also named in the team of the year at goalkeeper, alongside compatriots Latanya Wilson, who parades her skills at wing-defence, as the two form a dynamic duo in the Adelaide Thunderbirds defence, while Jodi-Ann Ward, another defender, stood out for the Collingwood Magpies.
