West Coast Fever have been defeated 68-62 by the Queensland Firebirds in front of a vocal home crowd of 7,393 at RAC Arena this afternoon.
Fever claimed two bonus points after winning two quarters and fighting back from deficits several times but the Firebirds were ultimately too good.
Exciting young defender Olivia Lewis got the opportunity to play a full game after Captain Courtney Bruce was ruled out with a respiratory condition on the morning of the game.
Jhaniele Fowler had a huge influence again, with 58 goals from 65 attempts, while Alice Teague-Neeld contributed four goals to go with 22 assists, 32 feeds and 18 centre pass receives.
Fowler’s countrywoman Romelda Aiken (19 goals) was injected into the game early on after starting on the bench, but matched up on her Jamaican Captain in defence before replacing Lenize Potgieter (19 goals) in Goal Shooter later in the match.
But it was Goal Attack Gretel Tippett who did the most damage, with 30 goals and 20 assists.
West Coast defender Shannon Eagland played her 50th national netball league match.
Fever Head Coach Stacey Marinkovich said they had tried some different strategies on court but a couple of lapses had cost them.
Marinkovich praised Teague-Neeld for her improvement.
“There was lots to like,” Marinkovich said.
“You saw Liv Lewis out there, a 20-year-old against world-class players and she was able to get some ball. Each time that she has gotten out there, she has been exposed to a different skill set.”
“There are good things to take that we can show we’ve got some versatility to build on in our off-season.”
“It’s been a tough year. But it doesn’t stop where we’re headed and what we’re trying to do. I think it’s great that we’re keeping our group together. I’m looking forward to what we can do because I think there is still a lot of growth.”
“Our crowd is magnificent, our support in WA is huge and they’ve been on a journey with us when we’ve had our downs before and this will be a short one because I know that he girls and all of us at the club will be working overtime to make sure that we’re back for next season.”
Fever made the early running but couldn’t capitalise on some early defensive wins as the teams went goal-for-goal before Queensland pulled ahead by two.
A Firebirds error in attack allowed West Coast to hit the lead once more but the visitors upped the pressure again, with a late goal to Potgieter giving Queensland a five-goal quarter-time advantage.
Fever got the perfect start in the second term, immediately forcing a Firebirds turnover.
The home side made it a one-goal game when the Firebirds gave up the ball again in the opening minutes before Queensland steadied to push the margin back out to four.
West Coast pushed hard for the final goal of the half to reduce the deficit to three and claim a bonus point.
Marinkovich swung the changes going into the third quarter, with Eagland taking the court at Wing Defence and Jess Anstiss moving into Centre, while Verity Charles was shifted to Wing Attack.
Fever had a hot start, quickly drawing level and then taking the lead after Queensland called a timeout.
But the Firebirds came again, with Aiken replacing Potgieter in Goal Shooter.
The visitors moved four clear before West Coast pulled it back once more, with a Fowler goal denied on the buzzer keeping it at a two-goal margin but seeing another bonus point go Fever’s way.
An Anstiss intercept allowed Fowler to score the first two goals of the decider as the teams were all locked up again.
But the Firebirds quickly responded, hitting back to go seven ahead.
Ingrid Colyer reentered the game with seven minutes remaining, as Eagland and Stacey Francis switched positions but Fever struggled to stop the Firebirds’ flow.
West Coast Fever travel to Sydney to take on Giants Netball on Saturday in the final round of the season.
