NBL1 Round 2 vs Southern Tigers
Women
The Norwood Flames (0 – 1), in their home opener, are taking on the Southern Tigers (0 – 1). After falling short against a skilled and veteran North Adelaide Rockets the Flames are looking to right the ship and get their first win against the Tigers. Meanwhile the Tigers are looking to bounce back from their disappointing round 1 loss to the South Adelaide Panthers.
The game started extremely well for the Flames as they opened 4-0 after their first two possessions. Southern answered back and scored 5 quick points. Still, Norwood’s defensive energy was disruptive to the Tigers, leading to lots of deflections and turnovers which allowed Norwood to get easy looks against an unset defence on the other end. Emily Saunders took advantage of the scrambling defence with her size leading to lots of mismatches and o-boards, creating extra opportunities for herself and her teammates. Both teams were aggressive in transition, playing fast and loose, this quick style of play was expected from two young teams full of energy and pride on both ends. The quick pace benefited the Flames who took advantage in transition leading 18 – 11 at quarter time.
Coming out of the break Norwood was focused on getting the ball inside, however, they struggled to convert on their opportunities. Conversely, the Tigers extended their range, draining 3’s to start the period, cutting the lead to 3 with 4:30 to go in the half. A strong and-1 finish from Amanda Paschal brought some life back to the Flames triggering extra energy on the defensive end. This brought the team up leading to a hot shooting stretch and the Flames dominating towards the end of the quarter. The ball-movement from Norwood was good all game and this stretch displayed how good this sharing offence can look. Norwood ends the half leading, 42 – 27.
The third quarter opened with two big blocks from Annika Uzcategui-Montenegro. Offensively, Amanda Paschal continued to dominate, she orchestrated the pick and roll to perfection all game, creating easy looks for herself and her teammates. To start this quarter Amanda was looking for her shot, scoring Norwood’s first 10 points in the second half. Even with Amanda lighting up the scoreboard, the defensive intensity of the Flames was the most impressive aspect of the quarter. This was emphasised with a double-big lineup utilising Emily Saunders and Alek Akuen together. Whilst in this lineup Norwood went to zone but the energy was still being provided with an early pick-up-point and great rotations. Norwood leads, 60 – 40, going into the final quarter.
The Tigers weren’t going down without a fight as they opened the fourth quarter playing with a lot of physicality trying their best to chain stops together. The Norwood Flames weathered this storm well for such a young team as they took advantage of the hectic rotations to find opportunities in the paint. Yet again, the ball-movement of the Flames was very good in this quarter and it showed in the spread of scoring with 7 different players scoring in the quarter. The shared offence was enough to hold off the improved offence of the Tigers. Norwood coming away with a big win at home and their first win of the season, 82-64.
