Xu-topia: Venom wins but WNBA star still says 'sorry'

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New York Liberty backup centre and Geelong import Han Xu apologised for picking up three fouls before halftime on her way to 16 points, eight boards and two blocks as the Venom overcame the absence of two starters to outlast Southside Melbourne Flyers 74-69 in Round 2 of WNBL27.

“Wow. It was a tough game today, and I feel so sorry I had three fouls,” Xu said.

Venom head coach Cheryl Chambers quickly interjected: “You don’t have to be sorry.”

But Xu, whose Liberty were eliminated from the 2026 WNBA playoffs by Isobel Borlase’s Atlanta Dream, continued: “Yeah, I’m sorry. But I’m so proud of my teammates because they are young and they saved the team.

“Because I had three fouls, I sat here and felt sad, but they won by 10 points [during that stretch in the second quarter].

“They fought, they got every single rebound, and they were aggressive on defence.

“I’m so proud of them.”

The 26-year-old 2.11m Chinese international spent a week in China after New York’s playoff run ended and arrived just days before suiting up against the Flyers.

Chambers went into the clash without backcourt starters Bec Cole and Maddy Rocci, both out injured.

“How good was it?” Chambers asked.

“A packed stadium, a superstar, injuries – everyone had to step up. It was huge. Good fun.

“Sport is like that. If someone goes down, we’ve got the next one.

How good for Lily (Rotunno) to come out, show she belongs in this league, and push it the way she did tonight. It was great.

Sam Mackinnon’s Flyers were up 18-13 at quarter-time but caught fire in the second, outscoring the road team 34-19 to take a 47-37 lead into the main break.

“It was a really fun way to play,” Chambers added.

“We spread the floor and knocked some threes. If we could do that for 40 minutes, wouldn’t that be fun?”

Mackinnon said the second quarter put the Flyers on the back foot.

“We just obviously couldn’t score there in the second quarter,” he said.

“Got a bit stagnant, quick-shot the ball. The ball moved through hands in the first quarter, and we held them to a pretty low score.

“Got Han in foul trouble and lost momentum. I tried to call some timeouts in the second, then, just so we could wrestle it back, but they got away from us. Gave up nine boards as well in the second quarter, so that put us down at halftime.

“We were just kind of there to make a run. We just couldn’t.

“We’d get a good look and, whether it rimmed out or not, just a tough one. Tough one in the end.”

The Flyers shot just 3-for-19 from deep, and Mackinnon rued Southside’s inability to hit shots, especially when they were needed.

“You’ve just got to make shots, right?” he said.

“We held them to 73, I think it was. I don’t have a stat sheet in front of me, and I don’t have my glasses either. Is it 73? Yeah.

“A decent enough score to win a basketball game. It comes down to making shots.

“I think our shot selection – we hurried a little bit at the start of the fourth.

“The intention’s right, but we probably just shot it a bit too early. We didn’t move them, get to the second side.

“Then late in the game, I thought we had a few opportunities for putbacks or just a little missed layup, which would have got it back to four, and then the pressure comes.

“We just couldn’t get over that hump, and they were just too good for us.”

What you need to know

• The Geelong Venom beat the Southside Melbourne Flyers 74-69 at Microkeeper Arena in Round 2 of WNBL27 on Saturday, October 24, 2026.
• Geelong lost the first quarter 18-13 and trailed 29-20 midway through the second, then closed the half on a 27-8 run to win the quarter 34-19, took the third 16-15 and held on as Southside won the fourth 17-11.
• Indiah Bowyer top-scored for Geelong with 17 points on 6-from-11, including 3-from-7 from three, while Hannah Hank led Southside with 16 points and eight rebounds on 7-from-16.
• The game was decided from three: Geelong made 8-from-29 and Southside 3-from-19, a 24-9 split in a five-point game, and six of Geelong's eight came in the second quarter.
• Southside made more two-pointers, 23 to 18, and both sides made 14 free throws, but Southside turned it over 21 times to Geelong's 16.

Milestones & Moments‍

• Southside's Carley Ernst played her 300th WNBL game.
• Alex Sharp had 14 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, moving to 998 career WNBL points, two short of 1,000.

Geelong Venom

• Indiah Bowyer top-scored with 17 points, three assists and two steals on 6-from-11, including 3-from-7 from three, with 10 of her points in the second quarter.
• Han Xu had 16 points, eight rebounds, two blocks and two steals on 8-from-16, including 0-from-5 from three, and scored 10 of Geelong's 16 points in the third quarter.
• Alex Sharp had 14 points, a game-high 13 rebounds and three assists on 4-from-11, with 4-from-6 at the line, and her basket with 2:45 left in the second quarter put Geelong ahead to stay, and she finished the day on 998 career WNBL points, two short of 1,000.
• Lilly Rotunno played all 40 minutes for 10 points and a game-high four assists on 3-from-8, with 3-from-4 at the line, and her only three-point attempt made it 45-37 before half-time.
• Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard scored all nine of her points in the second quarter on 3-from-10, including 2-from-6 from three, and her three-point play with 3:13 left in the half gave Geelong their first lead since the first quarter.
• Dakota Crichton had six points off the bench on 1-from-4, with 4-from-4 at the line, and Geelong were plus-10 in her 23:02.
• Wanglai Zhang had two points, three steals and two assists off the bench in 15:27, and her basket with 1:49 left made it 72-63.
• Geelong used seven players and shot 26-from-64 from the field, 8-from-29 from three and 14-from-19 at the line, with 37 rebounds (15 offensive), 15 assists, nine steals, three blocks and 16 turnovers.

Southside Melbourne Flyers

• Hannah Hank top-scored with 16 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals on 7-from-16, with 2-from-3 at the line, in 33:19.
• Tess Heal had 14 points and three assists on 5-from-9, including 1-from-2 from three and 3-from-4 at the line, in a team-high 36:42.
• Wang Siyu scored 11 points off the bench on 4-from-6, nine of them in the fourth quarter, including seven straight that cut Geelong's lead from 13 to six.
• Lucy Cochrane had eight points, four rebounds and two blocks off the bench on 3-from-3, with 2-from-3 at the line, in 18:07.
• Sakima Walker had six points, eight rebounds and three assists on 3-from-8, but turned it over a game-high seven times.
• Madison Ryan had six points and four rebounds off the bench on 2-from-4, including 1-from-3 from three, in 29:25.
• Haylee Andrews scored six on 1-from-7, including 0-from-4 from three, with 4-from-4 at the line, and Southside were minus-11 in her 21:30.
• Southside shot 26-from-61 from the field, 3-from-19 from three and 14-from-18 at the line, with 38 rebounds (15 offensive), 15 assists, 11 steals, three blocks and 21 turnovers.