Townsville Fire Extinguish Perth Lynx’s Unbeaten Run

The Townsville Fire have cemented their status as early WNBL title favourites, silencing the Perth Lynx 79–70 on the road to climb to the top of the ladder — all without having played a home game.

In their fourth of five straight away fixtures, the Fire showed grit and defensive steel to hand Perth their first loss of the season at the Lynx High Performance Centre, led by former Perth guard Miela Sowah, who torched her old side with a career-best 26 points and seven rebounds.

Townsville exploded out of the blocks with the opening eight points before Lauren Cox responded with three triples for the Lynx, but the Fire finished the first quarter up 26–16.

Perth opened the second term with a 19–4 surge to briefly take the lead, yet Sowah’s red-hot shooting steadied the visitors, who carried a 44–43 buffer into halftime.

The third quarter belonged entirely to Townsville. They suffocated Perth defensively, holding them to just seven points on 3-of-16 shooting while stretching the lead to 12 by the final break.

From there, the Fire maintained control to claim the nine-point victory — despite shooting only 38 per cent from the floor themselves. Their defence told the story, forcing tough looks and limiting Perth to 36 per cent shooting.

Alongside Sowah, Alex Fowler (16 points, nine rebounds) and Courtney Woods (12 points, nine assists, six rebounds) were standouts. Cox battled hard for Perth, producing 11 points, 12 boards and a mammoth seven blocks.

Fire coach Shannon Seebohm praised his team’s resilience. “To come to Perth and get a win, you’re always happy with that,” Seebohm said. “They’re a great side, and Ryan (Petrik) is a great coach. After that tough loss to Southside, this was a big response.”

The Lynx faced adversity, missing floor general Alex Ciabattoni (foot injury) and then losing Ally Wilson midway through the third quarter with a suspected broken nose.

Even so, Anneli Maley (21 points, 14 rebounds, four blocks) led the charge, while Tegan Graham (13 points) and Brianna Turner (12 points, seven rebounds, five assists) kept the home side competitive.

Lynx coach Ryan Petrik said losing both point guards at once left his team rudderless. “Once we lost Ally, we completely lost the rudder,” he admitted. “But glass half-full — that’s the championship favourite at full strength, and we hung with them for most of the night.”

Townsville (3–1) next travels to Geelong to face the Venom on Friday, November 7, while Perth (3–1) will look to bounce back at home against the Southside Flyers on Sunday, November 9.

Final score: Townsville Fire 79 defeated Perth Lynx 70.