The Southern Design Sydney Uni Flames take on WNBL competition leaders Bendigo in Victoria on Friday night, before going toe-to-toe with the fifth placed Bulleen Boomers on Sunday afternoon at the Sydney Uni Sports & Aquatic Centre.
The Flames first assignment on Friday evening will be very tough, going up against the 17-2 Bendigo outfit.
“Bendigo possesses a great all round team who execute very well in the half court,” warned Flames Head Coach Karen Dalton. “We will need to stay focused at the defensive end and control the boards.”
Despite the gulf in league positions (the Flames currently sit in eighth spot), the girls from Sydney Uni will enter this clash with plenty of belief having only just failed to upset Bendigo in their round 14 clash at Bendigo Stadium. On that night the Flames led at half-time, before an ordinary third quarter killed off an unlikely victory. It’s crucial that the Flames put together a four quarter performance on Friday night.
This game will see the clash of two of the competitions best point guards in Kristi Harrower and Alicia Poto, as well as the two best imports in the WNBL – April Sykes and Kelsey Griffin.
The Flames will need to shut down Gabe Richards if they hold any hope of coming away with the win. Richards hurt the Flames two weeks ago, scoring 22 points and dragging down an impressive nine rebounds to boot.
For the Flames, Rohanee Cox had a great game against the Spirit in their last clash (17 points, eight rebounds and five steals), and she is fired up for another excellent performance.
Following this tough game on the road, the Flames will then return to Sydney where they take on the Bulleen Boomers.
The Flames two previous games against the Boomers have been close –Bulleen won their first encounter 81-79 in Sydney before the Flames exacted revenge in Melbourne winning 79-75 – and this encounter will more than likely be just as even.
“Bulleen possess big and athletic perimeter players,” explained Dalton. “Controlling the boards and defensive transition are the keys for our success.”
Bulleen are led by up and coming stars Rachel Jarry and Tess Madgen who compliment the experience of Hollie Florance and Elyse Penaluna. The Flames bigs will play a crucial role in containing both Florance and Penaluna.
The clash that most are looking forward to is between Katie Rae Ebzery and Tess Madgen, who are seen as two of the up and coming stars of the league.
The Flames are celebrating the Australia Day long weekend clash between the Southern Design Sydney Uni Flames and the Bulleen Boomers by giving away four VIP Corporate passes to the next home game.
For your chance to win simply get in the Australia Day spirit and wear your best Green & Gold Australia Day outfit.
Tip-off against the Boomers is at 5pm this Sunday January 27 at the Sydney Uni Sports & Aquatic Centre.
Tickets are on sale from 4pm.
You can also support the Flames on Twitter @SydUniFlames or Facebook Sydney Uni Flames WNBL.
