'Really special player': Amoore's WNBA mystique is real deal

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Washington Mystics starting point guard Georgia Amoore as advertised, but Perth head coach Ryan Petrik was quick to put plenty of shine on Toronto Tempo big Teonni Key – and his bench – as the Lynx outlasted reigning champs Townsville Fire 86-83 in Round 1 of WNBL27 on Saturday, October 17, 2026, in Perth.

Amoore, who started all 44 regular-season games for the Mystics last season, finished with 13 points and seven assists in 28:23 minutes, while Key, who plays for Sandy Brondello in Toronto, was mired in foul trouble but still managed 15 points in 13:29.

“We were super bullish on TK and what she’d be able to do,” Petrik said.

“Just having watched her for a week, it’s ‘My goodness, she’s really good’.”

Petrik had to sit both WNBA stars for a long stretch in the second half of the WNBL26 Grand Final rematch, but his bench stepped up. He is still waiting for New York Liberty forward and WNBL26’s leading rebounder Anneli Maley to return from the US. He expects her next week.

“The second unit especially,” Petrik added.

“We were down six or whatever it was, and we subbed in Chloe (Hodges) and Sam (Ashby) and Tiege (Morrell), I think, all at once.

“’Just, guys, hold the fort’. And they actually clawed it back and got in front, and gave us coaching problems.

“The plan mentally was: we’ll start the second half back with the starters and go from there. But the second unit had been so good, like, ‘First five, just stay out for a sec’,” and told that second unit, ‘Just keep going for as long as you can and keep buying these guys rest’.”

“The second unit was really, really pleasing, and Chloe Hodges and Sam Ashby, in their WNBL debuts, were really, really good defensively.”

Perth Lynx carried a 64-63 lead into the final quarter and traded baskets with Townsville until Stephanie Gorman's step-back three made it 79-75 with 4:27 left. The Fire answered with six straight points (two Abbey Ellis free throws, then back-to-back Alicia Froling baskets) to take their first lead of the quarter, 81-79 with 2:32 to play.

Courtney Woods, who scored eight in the fourth, pushed it to 83-80 with 1:24 left. Perth closed on a 6-0 run. Gorman's second three of the quarter, set up by Georgia Amoore, tied it at 83 with 1:12 left; Froling was called for an offensive foul at the other end, and Haley Peters' layup put the Lynx up 85-83 with 31 seconds remaining. Amoore then stole a Woods pass, split a pair at the line with six seconds left, and Ellis missed a buzzer-beater three as Perth held on 86-83.

American 23-year-old 1.93m Key admitted her first game was frustrating.

“To say the least,” she said.

“But I’m glad we pulled it out, honestly. This team, really everybody, like you said, stepped up.

“We’ve only been together for a week fully, still missing Anneli, but this team’s going to be really good.

“I think just coming out tonight, having everybody do what they did, it was just super, super good to see. A good building block, our first start. Just going to keep building on that, so I’m super excited.

“I’ve had some teammates; they’ve warned me about the refs, just like, ‘Don’t really say much to them’.

“Maybe I’ll go back and watch and see what I can do better. But at the end of the day, I’m just going to keep playing hard, adjust a little bit so I can stay on the court and help the team. Just going to learn.

“I just got to stay on the court.

“Regardless of my individual performance, I’m really glad to be a part of this team and play with these players. It’s going to be a really, really fun season.”

The Fire were without Golden State Valkyries development player and Game 3 Grand Final hero Miela Sowah, who is part of the WNBA Finals starting today.

Fire head coach Shannon Seebohm said: “I think we gave them any open three they wanted pretty much the whole game, so we need to tidy that up.

“I didn’t like our defence very much. And I feel like, honestly, we probably aren’t in the shape we need to be to play WNBL basketball right now.

“I think we got tired. Our decision-making suffered. Our pace really slowed down, and I think we’ve got some work to do.

“But I just said to the girls, we didn’t play our best, and we were very close to being able to win that game if we actually finished some layups and made some plays down the stretch.

“Credit goes to Perth. They were definitely prepared and ready, and they played a great first quarter and got off to the races. I think when you let teams do that, it’s hard to put the other three quarters together.”

Petrik said Amoore’s passion and enthusiasm for the game and her teammates were already evident.

“It’s just how bright and bubbly she is,” he said.

“Obviously, she has a prior relationship with TK in terms of they know each other, so they’ve already got a bond and a friendship and a basketball IQ understanding of how to play together.

“Then you throw out Haley Peters and Tiege Morrell, who are both super smart and high-IQ players as well. All of a sudden there’s four or five of them. Steph Gorman.

“She comes in day one like, ‘Hey, what do you want me to do?’

“Then you saw, especially the first five, six minutes before the foul trouble, she can just manipulate the floor however she feels like, and we’ve got so many pieces that she can work off, and the shooting off the ball.

“She’s just a really, really special player.”

What you need to know

• The Perth Lynx beat the Townsville Fire 86-83 at the Perth High Performance Centre in Round 1 of WNBL27 on Saturday, October 17, 2026.
• Perth won the first quarter 28-23 after leading by as many as 12, Townsville took the second 28-17 to lead 51-45 at half-time, and Perth won the third 19-12 and the fourth 22-20.
• Haley Peters top-scored for Perth with 18 points on 7-from-16, and Marie Gülich led all scorers with 23 points and 10 rebounds off the Townsville bench on 8-from-17.
• The game turned at the three-point line. Perth made 12 of 30 from deep, Townsville four of 20, a 36-12 split in a game decided by three.
• Townsville led 83-80 with 1:24 left, then Perth scored the last six: a Stephanie Gorman three, a Haley Peters layup with 31 seconds left and a Georgia Amoore free throw after her steal.

Perth Lynx

• Haley Peters top-scored with 18 points, five rebounds and four assists on 7-from-16, including 3-from-8 from three, in 32:37.
• Teonni Key scored 15 on 7-from-8 with three blocks in 13:29 before fouling out.
• Stephanie Gorman added 15 points, all from five threes on 5-from-9, including the one that tied it 83-83 with 1:12 left.
• Georgia Amoore had 13 points, seven assists and four turnovers on 5-from-13, including 2-from-5 from three.
• Alex Ciabattoni had nine points and a team-high eight assists on 4-from-8, without a turnover.
• Samantha Ashby scored nine off the bench on 4-from-9.
• Chloe Hodges had three points and four rebounds, three of them offensive, off the bench, and Perth were plus-10 in her 23:05.
• Perth shot 35-from-71 from the field, 12-from-30 from three and 4-from-8 at the line, with 31 rebounds, 28 assists, nine blocks and eight turnovers.

Townsville Fire

• Marie Gülich led all scorers with 23 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks off the bench on 8-from-17, with 5-from-6 at the line.
• Courtney Woods had 20 points, nine rebounds and a game-high nine assists on 10-from-20 in 34:32.
• Alicia Froling added 15 points and 10 rebounds on 7-from-10.
• Abbey Ellis had nine points, eight rebounds and seven assists on 2-from-13, with 4-from-4 at the line.
• Alexandra Fowler scored nine on 3-from-7, with 3-from-4 at the line.
• Lauren Jensen had five points and four rebounds on 2-from-6, with four turnovers.
• Bree Stephens scored two off the bench on 1-from-2, and Townsville were plus-six in her 13:29.
• Townsville shot 33-from-75 from the field, 4-from-20 from three and 13-from-18 at the line, with 50 rebounds (22 offensive), 29 assists and 14 turnovers.