Rnd 9: Foley lead Flames Women over Bearcats
By Mark Halliday
Norwood Flames 71 | West Adelaide Bearcats 56
It wasn't pretty but the Norwood Flames kept their perfect record intact by winning their ninth game of the season over the resilient West Adelaide Bearcats at Port Adelaide on Saturday night.
Norwood didn't look themselves throughout the game as they committed uncharacteristic turnovers and missed easy shots after doing the hard work to create good looks. Jess Foley's performance (28 points, 6/11 3P, 11 rebounds, 3 steals) was an important one as no other Flame made it to double-digit scoring.
The Bearcats weren't fazed by the task ahead of them as they took it right to the defending champs with an impressive first half. West Adelaide took advantage of some lacklustre defence by finding cutters open under the basket or swinging it to the open perimeter shot. Tahlia Fejo (14 points, 5 rebounds, 5 steals) and Sky Langenbrinck (14 points) the beneficiaries of a cohesive team effort.
West Adelaide briefly took the lead out of the half off a stunning drive by Fejo, who duped the Flames and struck in the opposite direction. It was a short lived success as the Flames began to slowly pull away. Chelsea Brook's (8 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals) baseline jumper was immediately followed by Taylor Ortlepp (6 points, 5 assists) stealing the inbounds pass and putting it in for two more.
Foley and Ortlepp both connected on triples and Jess Good (9 points, 10 rebounds, 3 steals) ran half the length of the court for a layup as Norwood started to click and prevented West Adelaide from scoring for over 5 minutes.
Ashlea Vordermaier (11 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists) scored on consecutive layups and Langenbrinck split two defenders for another bucket as the Bearcats weren't letting the game get out of hand as the third quarter ended with the home side trailing by 10.
The Bearcats got as close as 8 in the fourth as Vordermaier found the net from deep and Fejo pulled up from midrange to close the gap. But the Flames and Foley responded with a three point play and then a triple to keep a comfortable lead and hang onto the win.
Round 10: Saturday, 21 May at 6.30pm
Norwood Flames v Woodville Warriors @ St Clair
West Adelaide Bearcats v North Adelaide @ Port Adelaide
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