West Coast Fever star Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard delivered a record-breaking performance on Sunday, scoring 73 goals to lead her team to a 78-71 victory over the New South Wales Swifts in the Suncorp Super Netball League.
The win, witnessed by a home and away record crowd of 11,267, secured Fever's second spot on the Super Netball table.
The match came on the heels of a tumultuous week for the Swifts, who announced the release of Trinidadian star Samantha Wallace-Joseph on Friday due to "behavior concerns." The loss of Wallace-Joseph, a key player for the Swifts, left the team struggling to adjust their gameplay and maintain cohesion on the court.
Despite the Swifts' impressive tally of 18 supershots to Fever’s one, they were outplayed from the beginning.
Swifts co-captain Maddy Proud admitted the controversy surrounding Wallace-Joseph had taken a toll on the team. "While it has only come out this week, we have had to deal with it for probably a month. There was a little bit of a relief in a way that all that speculation now has a conclusion," she said following the loss. "It would be silly to say that it hasn’t affected the group. We are a very tight-knit group and we had played with Sammy for eight years. We won two premierships with her and have been through a lot."
The Swifts, still adjusting to playing without a holding shooter like Wallace-Joseph, faced early challenges in feeding a moving circle. This led to moments of confusion between Helen Housby and youngster Sophie Fawns, resulting in both players moving into the same space.
The Fever capitalized on the Swifts' ball-handling errors in the second term, extending their lead to 14 points heading into the third term's power five. Although Fawns managed a flurry of supershots, hitting 11 out of 14 two-point goals, it wasn't enough to close the gap.
Fowler-Nembhard's exceptional aerial prowess earned her MVP honours for the match. Her performance not only secured a vital win for the Fever but also highlighted her as a continued formidable force in the league.
The Fever's victory reinforces their strong position in the league, while the Swifts will need to regroup and adapt quickly to their new team dynamics as they navigate the rest of the season without Wallace-Joseph.