Fowler perfect again

BRISBANE, Australia (CMC):

JHANIELE FOWLER produced a perfect shooting performance as West Coast Fever returned to winning ways after last week’s blip by powering their way to a 74-64 victory over Jamaica teammate Kadie-Ann Dehaney’s Sunshine Coast Lightning on Sunday.

Fever, who suffered a shock first defeat in the last round to Adelaide Thunderbirds, started strongly at the UniSC Stadium and were never in danger despite a weak third quarter, which saw them outscored 24-18.

Not for the first time this season, the 33-year-old Fowler never missed a shot, sinking 65 goals from as many attempts for the winners, who returned to the summit of the Australian Super Netball Championship standings.

Fever have 24 points but are only two clear of Thunderbirds, who beat Collingwood Magpies 52-47, also on Sunday.

“I thought [Sunshine Coast] really came at us hard in the last five minutes of the third [quarter] heading into three-quarter time,” Fever coach Dan Ryan said afterwards.

“Just our ability to endure that a little bit when the crowd was getting up and about was really important for us, and I think when you get a 10-goal win in Super Netball, it’s a great result, and it was really hard-fought.”

Fowler also reached another landmark in a stellar Super Netball career, recording her 5,000th goal attempt, late in the fourth quarter.

For the losers, Cara Koenen led with 34 from 36 attempts while Steph Wood chipped in with 16 from 18.

Fever raced to a comfortable 21-13 lead at the end of the first quarter before producing a great follow-up effort to be ahead 39-26 at the half-time break.

They were outplayed in the third as Lightning made a comeback but the visitors held their nerve well in the final quarter to see out the win.

In Adelaide, the Thunderbirds’ defensive duo of Latanya Wilson and Shamera Sterling got one over on their Sunshine Girls teammate Shimona Nelson but needed all their mettle to keep the Magpies at bay at Netball SA Stadium.

Entering the final quarter of the contest with a 39-31 lead, Thunderbirds were outscored 16-13, but Magpies ran out of time in the end.

Brit Eleanor Cardwell spearheaded the win with 31 goals from 35 attempts while Nelson netted 30 from 32 attempts.

“I think of my five years of being here, this is the best I’ve ever seen the Thunderbirds play consistent netball,” said Sterling, who logged 11 deflections, eight gains, four intercepts, and three rebounds in an outstanding display.

“I’m really proud of that and looking forward to what’s next for us.”

At the Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney on Saturday, another Jamaican international, Romelda Aiken-George, turned in a headline performance to fire New South Wales Swifts to a narrow 67-64 win over Giants Netball.

The 34-year-old scored 44 goals from 51 attempts as Swifts overturned a 52-51 deficit at the end of the third quarter to outscore the visitors 16-12 down the stretch and take the points.