Borrego spurs T-birds to second straight win

ADELAIDE, Australia (CMC):

Carla Borrego helped reigning champions Adelaide Thunderbirds continue to move in the right direction in the ANZ Championship yesterday, when they stopped the Central Pulse 51-41.

The Jamaican goal shooter started to find her range and finished with 37 goals from 44 attempts, as the T-birds collected a morale-boosting second straight victory, following defeats in their first two matches.

After building a healthy lead, the T-birds survived a fright in the third quarter from the Pulse, who were on their first trip across the Tasman channel this year.

Both teams were guilty of a high turnover rate, but the home team made use of the opportunities which the visitors presented to prevail.

The opening quarter was punctuated by turnovers, with neither team able to find any accuracy in their execution or finishing as highlighted by the low score.

A five-goal spurt late in the quarter led by Borrego gave Adelaide some momentum as they hit the first break with a 12-6 lead.

The quality of play did not rise significantly in an error-strewn second stanza with the visitors, in particular, unable to string together any consistency.

The T-birds one-on-one pressure in the mid-court plagued the Pulse and they committed several mistakes, while their shooters were starved of the ball.

Adelaide were just as guilty, but more readily got the ball through the court and Borrego and goal attack Erin Bell got enough possession to deliver solid percentages and help post a 25-16 half-time lead.

Illness

In the third period, Borrego and Bell went off the boil, missing a rash of goals, while the home team's cause was not helped when captain Natalie von Bertouch was forced from the court with illness.

The injection of Daya Pritchard at centre for Pulse provided a real shift in momentum for the visitors. With more height and purpose evident in the midcourt, Pulse found their rhythm with some crisp deliveries.

Thwaites and Amber Bellringer found their range under the hoop and a run of seven straight goals roared them back to life and cut the deficit to three.

But the T-birds soon regained their nerve to take a 37-31 lead at the last break.

The young Adelaide side snuffed out any chances of a first win for the Pulse this year, stepping up with a determined rally down the home straight, as the turnovers found their way back into the visitors' game.