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• Sterling, Wilson overcome Fowler as Thunderbirds edge Fever 54-53 in Suncorp Super Netball League; Swifts top Vixens 70-62

  Key defensive plays from Shamera Sterling and Latanya Wilson overcame another high-percentage shooting performance from Jhaniele Fowler as the Adelaide Thunderbirds pulled off another thrilling one-goal win 54-53 over the West Coast Fever at the Netball SA Stadium on Saturday.

  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.

• Fowler's Fever rebounds with record-breaking 97-63 victory over Queensland Firebirds Suncorp Super Netball

  Defending Suncorp Super Netball League champions West Coast Fever rebounded by last weekend’s loss with a record-breaking performance against the Queensland Firebirds on Sunday.

  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 500^th 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.

   

   

• New South Wales Swifts topple struggling West Coast Fever 65-64 to go second in Suncorp Super Netball table

  Defending Suncorp Super Netball champions West Coast Fever lost their third match of the season going down 65-64 to New South Wales Swifts and slipped to third in the league standings after what was their third loss in their last four games.

  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.