NBL1 Women Round 3 vs South Adelaide Panthers
Round 3 of the NBL1 Central season is against the South Adelaide Panthers (1 -1) who are coming off a 79 – 66 win against the Forestville Eagles. Led by Keira Gardiner, the South Adelaide Panthers are a young side who could take any game on the right night, so it’ll be no easy game for the Flames. The Paradise Hotel Norwood Flames Women (1 – 1) are coming off a great win against the Southern Tigers. They are looking to continue their momentum as imports Dara Mabrey and Cali Clark continue to integrate themselves into the team.
Off the opening tap, Isabella Stratford drew a foul, made the bucket but missed the free throw, giving South the first 2. Caitlin Shillabeer and Maddy Hinton opened up the scoring for Norwood hitting a 3 each and putting Norwood up 4 early. Norwood’s defence was excellent to start, but they were unable to capitalise on the other end, missing some gimme’s at the rim. The energy on defence led to some early foul trouble, Maddy Hinton picking up 2 early ones forcing Matt Hunt to take her out despite her hot start. The foul trouble disrupted the Flames defence and South went on a 6-point run tying up the game.
The Flames looked to answer the run but were unsuccessful as the extended 4-minute s scoring drought continued. An and-1 for South saw them take the lead for the first time since the first minute of the quarter. Norwood’s foul trouble continued, with South entered the bonus with over 2 and a half minutes remaining in the quarter. Dara Mabrey finally took the lid of the basket hitting a mid-range jumper followed by a 3-pointer from Cotton. South had found some momentum though as they continued scoring at a high-level, keeping their lead despite Norwood finding their offence again. A last possession score from Cotton let Norwood go into the break with some momentum, down 1, 18 – 17.
Hannah Stewart opened scoring for South Adelaide in the second, draining a long-2 in transition. Maddy Hinton made an impact subbing back on, getting to the line and snagging a rebound before getting a charging foul and returning to the bench with 3 personals. Some turnover issues led to a couple easy transition opportunities for the Panthers who missed key opportunities to extend their lead, Norwood able to keep their deficit limited to 3-points for the time being. Cali Clark was able to find her touch at the rim which is a key for the Flames offence, Cali’s paint presence forces a lot of defensive attention giving our shooters space to be effective. Unfortunately, the South shooters sparked up responding with a triple and forcing a timeout from Matt Hunt.
The Flames offensive struggles continued out of the timeout, getting good opportunities, finding the right shots but unable to convert. South on the other hand, was able to slowly put points on the board and continue to extend their lead. A banking triple from Dara Mabrey looked to slow the bleeding and a tough finish from Annie Elliott brought the game back to 3. A tough 3-point shot from South was answered by a true moon ball from Amy Cotton, her three-pointer almost scraping the ceiling before dropping. South continued to attack the ring and get to the line putting up 14 free-throws in the half and forcing Caitilin Shillabeer to commit her third foul, putting her next to Maddy Hinton on the bench. Fortunately for Norwood they were shooting 50% from the line at halftime. Amy Cotton continued her 3-point barrage with another triple giving her 3 for the half. The half came to a close with some fireworks on a physical play without a whistle, Norwood down 1 36 – 35.
The second half started with Cali forcing a turnover on South’s inbound then forcing the issue inside and drawing a foul and tying the game up at the stripe. The draw didn’t last for long as South Adelaide got another and-1 on a poor defensive possession by the Flames. Some very physical play was going early in this quarter, the umpiring letting a lot of contact go. South was taking advantage of this and playing very physically on both ends which disrupted the Flames, this was seen most on the o-boards as South was dominating the glass, getting multiple chances on most possessions. The frustrations were boiling over, Maddy Hinton getting another charge call – bringing her foul tally to 4 with 6:41 left in the third. Turnover issues continued to plague the Flames, as their issues kept piling up on the night Matt Hunt called a timeout to rally his troops.
Despite the issues for the Flames South only had a 5-point lead and a tough finish from Clark brought it to just 3. The offence started to tick along for both sides with some back and forth. A deep triple from Mabrey brought the game back to 2 but it was quickly answered by the Panthers. The turnover issues for the Flames continued as they have racked up 17 turnovers with over 2-minutes remaining in the third. The physicality of the Panthers is disrupting the Flames ball-handlers and the full-court pressure amplifying this advantage. South was capitalising on those turnovers, extending their lead to 8. A massive triple from Hatti Cox from 3-feet behind the line, making it a 10-point game. a tough jumper from Mabrey ended the quarter, Norwood trailing 57 – 49.
Lara Gribben got to the line, draining both, to start the quarter after a big o-board from Cali Clark who has 16 rebounds to this point dominating the glass. Lara was in the right places for the first 3 offensive possessions, giving herself 6 quick points in the quarter and brining the game back to only 2. South Adelaide answered and quickly brought their lead back to 8 through their usual pressure, forcing turnovers and breaking away in transition. The Flames had a big loss with Cali Clark getting a laceration through her eyebrow which sidelined her with a blood-rule. The Flames were going to miss her as a rebound magnet and a rim deterrent defensively.
An important pull-up jumper from Shillabeer put Norwood back into the scoring column, but South immediately answered with 2 of their own. South Adelaide’s physicality was being rewarded with free throws as they entered the bonus with 4 and a half to go in the game. A timely triple from Mabrey brought the game back to 7 but South was able to get 2 extra chances on o-boards and score on the other end. Maddy Hinton knifed her way to the ring for a brilliant finish and after a good defensive possession Mabrey hit a pull-up 2 to bring the game back to 5 before Mabrey head to the line. As Mabrey lined up for free throws Cali checked back into the game with some heavy bandaging to stop the bleeding. Mabrey nailed both and it was 3-point affair. Caitlin Shillabeer split a pair of free-throws and a good defensive possession led to an open 3 but it was long. Another great stop let Norwood have a chance to tie the game, but a turnover in the backcourt gave the Panthers an easy 2 to extend the lead to 4. Another turnover on the next possession gave Norwood turnover 24 and an intentional foul let South extend their lead at the free-throw line. The game was now out of hand as Norwood missed another triple and South went back to the line. A big 3 from Mabrey was too little too late. Norwood falls 72 – 76.
