The Southern Design Sydney Uni Flames returned home with a clean sheet and the Women’s National Basketball League competition lead after accounting for the Adelaide Lightning in Adelaide and the West Coast Waves in Perth in Round 2 matches.
The Flames began the long road trip with a 70-65 win over the Adelaide Lightning at the Adelaide Arena on Friday night and backed that up with a 71-55 win over the West Coast at the Western Australian Basketball Centre on Sunday afternoon.
The Flames and Townsville Fire remain unbeaten after three games, along with Logan Thunder, who have a game in hand. The Flames will host Logan this Friday night, with a 7pm tip-off at Sydney Uni Sports & Aquatic Centre.
SYDNEY UNI FLAMES V ADELAIDE LIGHTNING
Having easily accounted for the AIS in the first round, the Flames first big test for the season was against the star-studded Adelaide Lightning, and they passed the examination with aplomb, albeit in the final minutes.
The Flames led the Lightning by 14 points at one stage in the third term before the hosts hit back to reduce the margin to one point late in the final quarter.
But the Flames steadied, nailed their shots and headed west with boasting rights.
Amy Denson scored a game-high 25 points for the Flames, with Belinda Snell contributing 14 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, and Alicia Poto 10 rebounds and five assists.
The hosts were well served by former Flame Suzy Batkovic-Brown with 20 points and 13 rebounds and Abby Bishop with 16 points and nine rebounds.
SYDNEY UNI FLAMES V WEST COAST WAVES
While Denson and Snell were down on their shooting percentages, they did enough to account for the West Coast Waves in front of a big home crowd in Perth on Sunday.
Import Denson top-scored with 15 points, while dual Olympian Snell landed 12 points to go with 11 assists, four blocks and three steals.
West Coast captain Melissa Marsh top-scored for the hosts with 14 points, while Samantha Norwood finished with 11 points.
After a tight first quarter the Flames went to the break with an 18-12 advantage. An impressive second quarter from young Flames Katie-Rae Ebzery and Jaimee Kennedy helped the visitors extend their lead to 10 points at the half, with a 34-24 advantage.
That was increased to a 19-point advantage in the third quarter before the Flames closed out the hosts in the final quarter.
Scoreboard
Sydney Uni Flames 70 (Amy Denson 25, Belinda Snell 14, Natalie Stafford 8) d Adelaide Lightning 65 (Suzy Batkovic-Brown 20, Abby Bishop 16, Angela Marino 14) at Adelaide Arena.
Sydney Uni Flames 71 (Amy Denson 15, Belinda Snell 12, Katie-Rae Ebzery 10) defeated West Coast Waves 55 (Melissa Marsh 14, Samantha Norwood 11, Nikita-Lee Martin 10) at Western Australia Basketball Centre.
