Miela Sowah takes over in clutch to lead Fire to title

• ‍Bec Cole outlines what Perth and Townsville must fix in Game 2 after Fire’s 88–79 win‍
• Ultimate WNBL26 Championship Series Guide‍
• Game 1: Captain Woods sparks Fire to series lead over Lynx

Miela Sowah!

Miela Sowah!

Miela Sowah!

Miela Sowah scored a lay-up on a baseline out-of-bounds play out of a timeout to put the Fire up 106-105 with 7.4 seconds left after the Australian Opals guard, quiet for much of Game 2, had splashed a contested three with 4.3 seconds left on Alicia Froling’s offensive rebounds to tie the game at 92-92 to send Game 2 into overtime.

The Lynx turned the ball over after Fire import Lucy Olsen blew up the Lynx’s sideline out-of-bounds play with four seconds left.

Olsen was fouled and made both free throws.

The Fire withstood an outstanding Perth Lynx 108-105 in Game 2 of the WNBL26 Grand Final Series in Perth on Sunday, March 1, 2026.

It was a clash of the highest calibre. The lead changed 12 times in the fourth quarter overtime and 41 times across the whole ball game.

“Honestly, that’s what we practice for," Sowah said.

"So when it was in my hands, I was like, ‘I have to make this for this team'. And yeah, it went in like that. It was unreal.

“I think that’s one of our strengths.

"We’ve talked about it — we have every player who’s willing to step up, make the play, make the shot, and drop 20.

"I think that depth was one of our strengths. We’ve worked so hard this season — like, so hard — so for it to pay off, it’s unbelievable.”

The WNBL Grand Final MVP was Courtney Woods.

A panel of five judges voted on a 3,2,1 basis across the two games:

• ‍Courtney Woods (Townsville Fire) - 26 votes (3,3, 3, 1, 3, 3, 3, 2, 3, 2)‍
• Alicia Froling (Townsville Fire) - 19 votes (2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 1, 3)‍
• Anneli Maley (Perth Lynx) - 11 votes (1, 1, 3, 1, 2, 1, 1, 1)‍
• Miela Sowah (Townsville Fire) - 4 votes (2, 2)‍
• Alex Ciabattoni (Perth Lynx) - 1 vote (1)

Miela Sowah Game 2 Box Score

33:32 minutes: 18 points │ 7-from-16 FG │ 5-from-9 2PT │ 2-from-7 3PT │ 2-of-3 FT  │ 2 rebounds │ 1 turnover │ 2 fouls │ 9 efficiency

Game 2 Box Score: Perth Lynx Townsville Fire

Sowah, who played for the Lynx last season, missed her first game-tying three-pointer in regulation  before Froling came up with the o-board and kicked it to Sowah at the top of the key to force overtime. She took over from Courtney Woods, who fouled out in regulation with 1:22 to go.

There were storylines everywhere:

• Courtney Woods dropped a career-high 28 points before fouling out with 1:20 to go.
• Alex Fowler fouled out with 14 seconds left.
• Anneli Maley had 25 points and 19 rebounds in regulation.
• Han Xu had 18 points, nine boards, six assists and four blocks.
• Xu fouled out with four minutes left in overtime with 18 points.
• Alicia Froling had 23 points, eight boards and five assists.
• Amy Atwell splashed a three on a perfect pick and pop with 30 seconds left to put the Lynx up one.
• Lead Changes: 41
• Time in Lead: Perth 20:29 │ Townsville 19:26
• Biggest Lead: Perth 9 │ Townsville 8
• Overtime: Townsville 16–13

The Lynx took advantage of Woods fouling out on a 50-50 loose ball contest with Ally Wilson with 1:21 to go. Woods dropped a WNBL career-high 28 and was cooking.

Woods fouled out on a loose ball clash with Ally Wilson with 1:21 to go. Xu put the Lynx up 92-89 with a pair of clutch free throws with 12.5 seconds left.

Midway through the third quarter, Woods needed a quick repair (glue) to the top of her head after colliding with Han Xu's elbow on a close-out that stopped the game for about four minutes for a timeout and to clean the floor.

The Lynx responded, taking the lead on a 6-0 run, but the Fire stabilised on the back of elite post play by Alicia Froling. Froling had 11 points in the quarter.

Shooting Efficiency

• Perth: 49.1% FG (28-from-57 2PT; 11-from-34 3PT) │ 88.9% FT (16-of-18)
• Townsville: 57.7% FG (30-from-52 2PT; 10-from-29 3PT) │ 78.3% FT (18-of-23)

Edge: Townsville shot +8.6% better from the field and converted two more total field goals despite five fewer attempts.

Rebounding

• Perth: 47 (18 OR, 29 DR)
• Townsville: 46 (14 OR, 32 DR)

Perth won the glass by one, highlighted by Anneli Maley’s 19 rebounds, but Townsville controlled key defensive boards late.

Playmaking & Ball Control

• Assists: Townsville 28 │ Perth 24
• Turnovers: Perth 11 │ Townsville 13

Townsville generated four more assists, moving the ball more efficiently in half-court sets.

Paint & Interior

• Points in the Paint: Townsville 52 │ Perth 46
• Second Chance Points: Perth 16 │ Townsville 15

Townsville’s interior finishing — led by Courtney Woods and Alicia Froling — proved decisive.

Bench Production

• Perth Bench: 12 points
• Townsville Bench: 22 points

Chantel Horvat (7) and Lucy Olsen (15) combined for 22 critical bench points for the Fire.

Individual Leaders

Perth Lynx

Anneli Maley
27 pts │ 19 reb │ 6 ast │ 12-from-17 2PT │ 43:02 mins │ 42 efficiency

Han Xu
18 pts │ 9 reb │ 6 ast │ 4 blk │ 100% FT │ 31 efficiency

Alex Ciabattoni
23 pts │ 3-from-7 3PT │ 60% 2PT

Ally Wilson
13 pts │ 9 reb │ 9 ast (near triple-double)

Townsville Fire

Courtney Woods
28 pts │ 8 reb │ 7 ast │ 3-from-6 3PT │ +13 │ 33 efficiency

Alicia Froling
25 pts │ 8 reb │ 5 ast │ 10-from-15 2PT │ 33 efficiency

Miela Sowah
18 pts │ 2-from-7 3PT │ clutch late scoring

Lucy Olsen (Bench)
15 pts │ 5 ast │ 5-of-6 FT

This was a possession-by-possession contest. Perth controlled the second quarter and early third. Townsville’s composure in overtime — shooting 6-from-? inside and controlling tempo — ultimately separated the sides.

First Half Recap

Townsville Fire held a five-point lead at halftime after a high-possession, shot-making first half in Perth.

The Lynx controlled early tempo, winning the opening quarter 26–20 behind efficient interior touches from Chinese superstar centre Han Xu (eight points on 2-for-3 shooting, four-of-four from the line) and strong inside work from Anneli Maley (eight points, seven rebounds).

Perth shot 46.4% from the field in the half and generated 20 points in the paint.

Townsville responded emphatically in the second quarter, exploding for 30 points on 57.1% two-point shooting and 40% from three. Captain Courtney Woods set the tone with 14 first-half points on 6-for-9 shooting, adding four assists. Miela Sowah (nine points) and Lucy Olsen (seven off the bench) provided perimeter support as the Fire swung momentum with a seven-point run.

Rebounding was in Townsville’s favour (24–18), and the Fire’s 13 assists to Perth’s seven highlight their ball movement in the decisive second term. There have been nine lead changes, underlining the intensity of the contest.

Lynx star Amy Atwell hit the buzzer-beating three as the clock stopped at 0.7 seconds and was fouled by Miela Sowah, finishing the and-1 to put the Lynx up 26-20 at the first break.

Xu picked up her third foul midway through the second quarter with the Lynx controlling the tempo, but Perth lost its way at the back end of the period.

Game 2 Box Score: Perth Lynx Townsville Fire

MORE TO COME

Game Two Preview: Sunday, March 1, 2026

Perth Lynx star Amy Atwell understands the weight of history ahead of Game 2 of the WNBL26 Grand Final Series against the Townsville Fire.

The Lynx are down 1-0 and haven’t won a championship for 34 years, when Tanya Fisher led the Breakers over the top of the Dandenong Rangers 58-54 in 1992.

“It’s been a conversation, I think, around the club for years,” Atwell said.

“It’s something brought up in pre-seasons. We haven’t won one in 34 years. For me, being from Perth, that’s obviously a huge motivation for me to bring one back to my home city.

“For us, it’s just about the next game, as cliché as it sounds, we wanna bring one home to Perth regardless of how long it’s been.”

On the flipside, Townsville is chasing its fifth title in 11 years, and star guard Courtney Woods wants the Fire to leverage the experience of the "Keep your mouth shut" Game 2 blow-out loss to Southside Melbourne Flyers less than two weeks ago as the catalyst to sweep in the series today in Perth.

“I feel like for Game 2, last time we had kind of all the tools and plans to do it, we just didn’t execute it,” Woods said.

“So I feel like that should hopefully be the biggest wake-up call, and obviously, you don’t want to continue to have wake-up calls at this point in the season, so that will hopefully be enough.

“One game doesn’t really mean anything in a series. We’re happy to go to Perth with the lead, but we need two games to finish it off.”

Game 1 delivered the standard expected from the league’s top two teams, but the separation came in areas Perth can control. Townsville won the rebound count 45–37, generated 23 free-throw attempts to Perth’s 12, and repeatedly found paint touches when perimeter shooting stalled.

Perth shot 31 per cent from beyond the arc. Townsville shot 25 per cent. The three-ball wasn’t decisive. The difference was physicality and possession control, especially in the third quarter when the Fire outscored the Lynx 24-10.

Speaking on It’s a Cole World, former Opal Bec Cole identified second-chance opportunities and dribble penetration as the defining themes.

“Townsville won the rebound count 45–37, generated 23 free-throw attempts to Perth’s 12, and found consistent paint touches when the three-ball wasn’t falling,” Cole said.

Lynx head coach Ryan Petrik said: “We go and cut us some film, especially the third.

“We just have to clean up some stuff in our own backyard.

“Townsville were great, they got some things to go their way. We’d get a really good defensive possession executed, and then we couldn’t get a defensive rebound. In that third quarter, it felt like it all – and this will sound like a discredit to Townsville, I don’t mean it that way – but it just felt like every time we just needed a break to go our way, we couldn’t get one.

“So the Maley three that goes in, there’s an offensive rebounding foul. We’d get a stop, they’d get an offensive rebound, they’d score a layup. We’d get a stop, they’d get an offensive rebound, they’d go shoot free throws, they’re an elite team, they’ll make you pay for it. So I don’t mean that as a diss at all, but at some point, you’ve got to try and win the ball game.”

Meanwhile, five-time WNBL Coach of the Year Shannon Seebohm expects Perth to get after the Fire in a bid to send the series back to Townsville for a deciding winner-takes-all Game 3.

“We learned a lot in that Southside series about how we need to approach games,” Seebohm said.

“When you go and play a finals game on someone else’s home floor, it's different to the regular season and obviously, coming off a loss, Perth are gonna be seething, they’re gonna be coming after us.

“It’s gonna be really aggressive and physical, and they, you know, they’re in their home gym where they feel comfortable.

“We need to be ready to defend at a really high level and hopefully have a little bit more focus than we did in the Southside series in Game 2.”

What Perth Must Change in Game 2

Cole’s assessment of Perth’s response was direct.

“They must flip the rebounding margin and limit second-chance points, particularly by gang-rebounding and reducing Townsville’s offensive boards,” she said.

Perth conceded 15 offensive rebounds. That cannot be repeated in a Finals series on the road.

Han Xu’s 16 points came largely from mid-post and elbow touches. Cole believes that positioning must deepen.

“Han Xu needs deeper post catches, not elbow touches, and the Lynx must re-establish pace.”

Transition is Perth’s advantage. Defensive stops must convert to early offence. In Game 1, half-court possessions dominated the rhythm.

“Defensive stops have to ignite transition offence, where Perth are at their most dangerous,” Cole said.

Ball-screen coverage on Woods is another pivot point.

“More ball-screen pressure on Woods is essential – different coverages, more disruption, fewer clean reads.”

What Townsville Must Repeat

For Townsville, the equation is simpler: discipline and duplication.

“It’s about discipline and repeatability,” Cole said.

Stay physical in the half-court. Collapse the paint. Trust shot selection.

The Fire scored 29 two-point field goals in Game 1. Interior efficiency over perimeter volume defined their offensive identity.

If Townsville win the rebounding battle again and maintains composure against Perth’s expected home surge, they move within one win of the title.

“If they win the rebounding battle again and maintain composure under Perth’s home-court surge, they put themselves in position to close the series in two,” Cole said.

The Deciding Factor

Game 2 will not be decided by shot-making variance alone.

“Game 2 will hinge on who controls tempo – structure or speed,” Cole said.

Townsville prefers a controlled half-court structure. Perth thrive in pace and transition.

Today in Perth, the style that survives will be determined.

WNBL Champions

• 1981 – St Kilda Saints
• 1982 – St Kilda Saints (2)
• 1983 – Nunawading Spectres
• 1984 – Nunawading Spectres (2)
• 1985 – Coburg Cougars
• 1986 – Nunawading Spectres (3)
• 1987 – Nunawading Spectres (4)
• 1988 – Nunawading Spectres (5)
• 1989 – Nunawading Spectres (6)
• 1990 – North Adelaide Rockets
• 1991 – Hobart Islanders
• 1992 – Perth Breakers
• 1993 – Sydney Flames
• 1994 – Adelaide Lightning
• 1995 – Adelaide Lightning (2)
• 1996 – Adelaide Lightning (3)
• 1997 – Sydney Flames (2)
• 1998 – Adelaide Lightning (4)
• 1998–99 – Australian Institute of Sport
• 1999–00 – Canberra Capitals
• 2000–01 – Sydney Panthers (3)
• 2001–02 – Canberra Capitals (2)
• 2002–03 – Canberra Capitals (3)
• 2003–04 – Dandenong Rangers
• 2004–05 – Dandenong Rangers (2)
• 2005–06 – Canberra Capitals (4)
• 2006–07 – Canberra Capitals (5)
• 2007–08 – Adelaide Lightning (5)
• 2008–09 – Canberra Capitals (6)
• 2009–10 – Canberra Capitals (7)
• 2010–11 – Bulleen Boomers
• 2011–12 – Dandenong Rangers (3)
• 2012–13 – Bendigo Spirit
• 2013–14 – Bendigo Spirit (2)
• 2014–15 – Townsville Fire
• 2015–16 – Townsville Fire (2)
• 2016–17 – Sydney Uni Flames (4)
• 2017–18 – Townsville Fire (3)
• 2018–19 – Canberra Capitals (8)
• 2019–20 – Canberra Capitals (9)
• 2020 – Southside Flyers (4)
• 2021–22 – Melbourne Boomers (2)
• 2022–23 – Townsville Fire (4)
• 2023–24 – Southside Flyers (5)
• 2024–25 – Bendigo Spirit (3)
• 2025-26 –