North Adelaide: 73

Norwood: 51

The defending champions found themselves on the wrong end of a blow out in their round 2 fixture against the North Adelaide Rockets on the road.

 

North Adelaide were the first horses out of the gate this evening with the opening score. Despite this, the defending champions mood did not decline as they played hard throughout the entire first term. Both teams appeared to find it difficult to control each other on the defensive glass as both teams crashed the offensive glass for many plays throughout the game. Despite both clubs playing hard and clean, Norwood were down 10-points at the first break.

 

The now unretired Jo Hill showed no signs of slowing down as it appears that she has adapted to her new role thus far in the season. She flirted with a double-double coming off the bench with 21-minutes of play (10-points, 9 rebounds [4 offensive]).

 

The 2^nd term looked to be tough for the Rockets as they picked up 2 fouls early and would have to ensure that they would stay out of the bonus for as long as possible. Luckily for North Adelaide, Norwood were sloppy in the beginning stages of the quarter and were unable to capitalise. With North trying to push their lead out to a commanding one, Norwood were doing a great job on the offensive glass trying to keep the lead within reaching distance including a converted and 1 by Jess Good to keep the margin at 12. Despite the and 1, the halftime siren blew and the champions were down 15 with a half to play (23-38) much to the fans delight.

 

The North Adelaide Rockets looked to make a statement to the league with a big win over the champions. Coming out of halftime, North were still hungry on both ends of the hardwood although this hunger led to a string of bad decisions offensively. Norwood on the other hand stayed calm and were looking for the best option for a shot and pass. They knew that bad shot selection would potentially dash their opportunity at a comeback victory. With both sides shooting well, and a good overall offensive quarter for the champions, the final term looked that there could be an upset by the champions as they were only had a 13-point buffer between them.  

 

Knowing the potential outcomings by the champions, the Rockets came out firing in the final term and held the Flames to an 8-point quarter. After taking a hard tumble with a few minutes remaining, Norwood’s McKay was helped off the court after a worrying few moments. Tempers were soaring on the Norwood end of the court as their coach D. Golley was not pleased about the outcome of the play. This resulted in a double technical and his ejection from the game. After his ejection, the potential injury to their teammate, and the game being all but over Norwood finished the game strong.

 

With their first loss in the books, the defending champions look to get back on track after the Easter break as they host the West Adelaide Bearcats at The ARC Campbelltown.

The Rockets look to keep their form rolling with a win against Sturt Sabres in the Adelaide Hills for their round 3 clash.

 

Notable Performances:

North Adelaide:

Tayla Corrigan: 16-points (40% FG), 5 rebounds, 4 blocks

Courtney Hansen: 15-points (60% FG), 6 rebounds, 3 blocks

Jo Hill: 10-points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists

 

Norwood:

Jessica Good: 17-points, 12 rebounds

Marisa Stabile 12-points, 11 rebounds