West Coast Fever squandered a four-goal second-quarter lead to lose 66-53 to the Adelaide Thunderbirds at Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Saturday night. The Fever's shooting combination of Romelda Aiken-George and Sasha Glasgow struggled, with Aiken-George scoring 29 goals from 37 attempts and Glasgow adding 22 goals, both missing routine shots.
Thunderbirds shooter Elmere van der Berg equalled her own club record with 59 goals, backing up her impressive debut. She was well supported by Georgie Horjus, who had 37 goal assists and 48 feeds. Adelaide's defensive duo Shamera Sterling-Humphrey (six deflections, 10 gains) and Latanya Wilson (four gains, four deflections) proved disruptive.
Fever had 19 general play turnovers to Adelaide's seven, contributing to their downfall. Coach Dan Ryan made several changes, including benching captain Jess Anstiss and bringing on Caitlyn Brown for extra height, but it had little effect. Aiken-George was benched twice in the second half, with debutant Sloan Burton replacing her.
Despite the loss, Glasgow found some rhythm after half-time, scoring five of her six super goals to keep the margin respectable. Fever will look to rebound against the Giants at RAC Arena next Sunday.
