Sydney into fourth as race for WNBL top four heats up

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Sydney into fourth as race for WNBL top four heats up

The Sydney Flames have edged ahead of the UC Capitals in the race for fourth spot in the WNBL after coming up trumps in an overtime thriller, while Perth’s hold on second spot took an almighty blow.

The Flames (7-11) defeated the Capitals (7-12) 92-88 on Thursday to leapfrog their rivals into fourth spot with just two rounds remaining.

Scores were locked at 80 apiece at full-time, but the Flames were able to produce the goods in overtime, outscoring their opponents 12-8.

Shaneice Swain led the way for the Flames with 36 points and six assists, while Celeste Taylor (22 points) and Cayla George (14 points, 17 rebounds) were also huge.

For the Capitals, ***** Melbourne was important with 28 points and 10 rebounds, while Nyadiew Puoch (19 points, 11 rebounds) also recorded a double-double.

The Flames and Capitals will do battle again on February 9 in Canberra in a match that will go a long way towards deciding which of the two sneak into the finals.

The Capitals at least rebounded from Thursday’s loss to the Flames by beating Geelong United 91-77 on Saturday, but it wasn’t enough to jump back into fourth spot.

Charli Collier scored a team-high 23 points for the Capitals against Geelong, with Melbourne (17 points) and Nicole Munger (14 points) also contributing.

Alex Sharp scored 23 points for strugglers Geelong, while Hannah Hank (19 points, 12 rebounds) and Haley Jones (19 points) also chipped in.

The big losers of round 14 were the second-placed Lynx, who suffered a shock 87-69 defeat to the sixth-placed Adelaide Lightning (6-12).

Isabelle Bourne and Steph Talbot scored 21 points apiece for the Lightning, while Brianna Turner was also influential with nine points, 15 rebounds, eight assists and five blocks.

For the Lynx, Amy Atwell scored 18 points and Anneli Maley tallied 11 points and 14 rebounds, but the team shot at just 30 per cent from the field in a disappointing display.

The result means Perth (14-5) are in danger of being overtaken by the Townsville Fire (13-5).

Both teams are guaranteed to finish either second or third, and their meeting in the final game of the regular season in two weeks’ time could determine who gets home-court advantage for their semi-final series.

The Fire kept the pressure on Perth with a 90-85 win over the Southside Flyers on Friday.

Bendigo Spirit, guaranteed to finish on top of the table, followed up their 81-60 win over Geelong on Wednesday with a 92-73 win over the last-placed Flyers on Sunday.

Sami Whitcomb led the way for Bendigo against Southside with 33 points and a whopping six steals, while Marianna ***** (22 points, nine rebounds) also had a big game.

Naz Hillmon (22 points) and Dallas Loughridge (21 points) led the way for Southside.

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