Friday night’s ‘State of Origin’ WNBL clash against Maroon northern neighbours the Logan Thunder at the Sydney Uni Sports & Aquatic Centre (SUSAC) will mark another opportunity for the Southern Design Sydney Uni Flames to put together four consistent quarters and get off the mark in the 2012/13 season.
Consistency has so far been the main hurdle for the young Flames group; with their defensive intensity in particular not being up to scratch, but Flames Head Coach Karen Dalton is confident that a 40 minute performance and a victory aren’t far away.
“We have played really well in patches this season, but the girls know that they need to be more consistent over the course of the four quarters,” said Dalton.
“We need to work on our defensive rebounding and keeping our opposition to a score of 65 and under. We are showing some real improvements every week and we aren’t too far off where we need to be.”
The Flames have taken plenty of positives from last Friday nights nail-biting two point loss to last year’s WNBL grand finalists the Bulleen Boomers, particularly the debut of US import April Sykes who only arrived in the country last Tuesday.
Despite only training with her team mates twice before last weekend’s clash, Sykes still managed to impress. Given she will be coming off a full week of practice we should see an even better performance from the former LA Sparks guard. Her match up with fellow US star import and SEABL All Star 5 player Lindsay Laur will be exciting to watch.
Ellie Manou had her best game since re-signing with the club this season and the Flames will be looking to her to continue this form at both ends of the floor on Friday night.
Flames guard Jaimee Kennedy continues to impress, thanks largely to her rebounding and defence which have been critical to the team so far this season.
Katie Rae Ebzery’s match up with veteran point guard Kristen Veal could well decide the game. Veal averages five assists a game, while Ebzery has started this season brightly at both ends of the court.
The Flames will be sweating on the fitness of captain Alicia Poto, who sustained a knee injury in the final minutes of last week’s game, while Logan are deciding on how best to integrate new US signing Laurie Koehn into their line-up for this weekend’s clash.
Tickets to the Flames game against the Logan Thunder can be purchased on game night on Friday October 26 from 6pm at the Sydney Uni Sports & Aquatic Centre. Tip-off is at 7pm.
Get along to support The Flames and show your true (Blue & Gold) colours!! So get out of your seat and help ‘Light up the Flames’.
You can also support the Flames on Twitter @SydUniFlames or Facebook Sydney Uni Flames WNBL.
