Fire starters light it up to flame Perth in heated rematch

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Townsville Fire's starters combined for 96 points.

And the worrying sign for the rest of the league? Head coach Shannon Seebohm believes his side are getting better looks on the offensive end than the start of their last championship season but just haven't found their mark from beyond the arc yet.

It didn't matter too much as the Fire won their second straight game with a 99-86 win over last season's Grand Final opponents, the Perth Lynx, at the Townsville Entertainment Centre.

Townsville were once again led by Courtney Woods, who would be the MVP favourite this season, as the star guard fell just short of a triple-double with 24 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds. Abbey Ellis (21 points) and Lauren Jensen (20 points) both passed the 20-point mark while Alex Fowler and Alicia Froling also both reached double figures.

Another worrying sign for the Fire's opponents, they're still without WNBA champion Miela Sowah, who Woods begged to return in her post-game interview.

Seebohm praised his team and Woods in his post-game press conference.

"I think (Woods) is unlucky to not have been the MVP of the league a couple times already," he said.

"I think everyone knows what I think of Courtney as a player and I think she just keeps getting better every year and adds something each off-season to her game and she's an unbelievable player out of the pick and roll sees the floor extremely well and I think you know when she does that obviously the likes of Lauren Jensen, Abbey Ellis, Alicia Froling, Alex Fowler seem to find themselves open and get some good looks.

"She's a massive part of of what we do and why we're able to win games."

Seebohm said he was happy with the looks his team were producing offensively and expected his players to improve their efficiency from the perimeter as the season went on.

"We've got some really good shooters, we haven't shot the ball overly well to start the season to be honest with you and I think we've had probably better quality looks this year than what we had last year," he said.

"I'm not sure what's going on with that but we know that if we get good looks we want to shoot them and I trust our girls to be able to knock those down."

The two-time WNBL championship coach also spoke about the battles between the Fire and the Lynx, who have consistently met in the playoffs over the past six years.

"They're fun games like I think we've played Perth so many times, I've probably been coaching against Ryan (Petrik) for the last six or seven seasons now and every single time we play it's the same," he said.

"They're competitive, they're tight games, they're really fun to watch and be a part of and I think it's just that Perth Lynx's style that kind of brings it out in you and fortunately for us were able to get the win today."

The game wasn't without controversy with Lynx import forward Hayley Peters given a technical foul for reenacting what she thought was a flop by Fowler in the last quarter.

It was an action Petrik didn't mind from Peters.

"I loved what Haley Peters did at the end, like loved it, and I know she got teed up and I think it goes to me because that was her sixth foul, so I think I've got to wear it for her and more than happy to do it because I think she was 100% right," Petrik said.

"We knew what was going (with the foul count) to happen before we came up here and talked about it before we came and then when it happens anyway, it's like we already knew these guys.

"So Townsville were too good and we've got to be better."

Petrik said Perth failed to slow down Townsville's trademark pick-and-roll game, which led to the loss.

What you need to know

• The Townsville Fire beat the Perth Lynx 99-86 at the Townsville Entertainment and Convention Centre in Round 3 of WNBL27, a rematch of last season's Grand Final, moving to 3-2 and handing Perth their first loss after a 2-0 start.
• Townsville won the first quarter 26-21 and Perth the second 26-22, so the Fire led 48-47 at half-time. Perth's last lead was 57-56 with 7:02 left in the third. Townsville were back in front 15 seconds later and never trailed again, winning the third 26-17 and the fourth 25-22.
• Courtney Woods top-scored with 24 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds on 7-from-13, including 7-from-7 at the line, and Georgia Amoore led Perth with 20 points and eight assists on 9-from-14.
• Townsville's five starters scored 96 of their 99 points, with Woods, Abbey Ellis (21) and Lauren Jensen (20) all past 20, while Perth's bench outscored Townsville's 18-3.
• Townsville made 17-from-26 at the line to Perth's 8-from-10, a nine-point edge in a 13-point game, with both teams making 10 threes. Perth turned it over 13 times to nine, and the Fire had 26 assists to 20.

Milestones

• Townsville's starters scored 96 points, the most by any starting five in WNBL27. The next best is the Tasmania Jewels' 87 against the Geelong Venom on October 15. The Fire's three bench points are the fewest by any team this season.
• Townsville's 99 points are their most of WNBL27 and the second-most by any team, behind Tasmania's 103 against Geelong. They are also the most Perth have conceded this season.
• Perth's 10 free-throw attempts are the equal second-fewest by any team in WNBL27, level with the Bendigo Spirit against Geelong on November 2. The fewest is Perth's own eight against Townsville in Perth on October 17.
• Woods' 10 assists equal the most by any player in a WNBL27 game, level with Jade Melbourne's 10 for Bendigo against the UC Capitals on October 17, and gave her a first double-double of the season.
• Woods played her 130th WNBL game and moved to 445 career WNBL assists, 55 short of 500. She is now on 1,535 career points and 515 rebounds, having passed 1,500 points at Bendigo on October 27 and 500 rebounds against the Sydney Flames on October 25.
• Alicia Froling played all 40 minutes in her 131st WNBL game. Her 15 points equal her WNBL27 high and took her to 1,271 career WNBL points, 229 short of 1,500, and her two blocks are her WNBL27 high.
• Alex Fowler played her 84th WNBL game and moved to 827 career WNBL points, 173 short of 1,000, and 455 rebounds, 45 short of 500. Her six assists equal her WNBL27 high.
• Abbey Ellis's six assists took her to 189 for her WNBL career.
• Lauren Jensen followed her 22 points at Bendigo with 20, her second straight 20-point game.
• Georgia Amoore's 20 points are her WNBL27 high, as are her six turnovers. Anneli Maley's 19 points and 11 rebounds made it two double-doubles from her two WNBL27 games.
• Alex Ciabattoni moved to 1,197 career WNBL points, 303 short of 1,500, and 418 rebounds.

Townsville Fire

• Courtney Woods had 24 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds on 7-from-13, including 3-from-6 from three and 7-from-7 at the line, with one turnover.
• Abbey Ellis scored 21 with six assists and six rebounds on 7-from-16, including 3-from-9 from three, and scored six of Townsville's last nine points in the final 1:42.
• Lauren Jensen scored 20 on 8-from-16, including 3-from-10 from three, and her three with 6:47 left in the third put Townsville ahead for good at 59-57.
• Alex Fowler had 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists on 7-from-11 with no turnovers, and drew Haley Peters' fifth foul with 3:57 left.
• Alicia Froling had 15 points, seven rebounds and two blocks on 6-from-8 in all 40 minutes, going 3-from-8 at the line.
• Bree Stephens had two points, two rebounds and a block in 10 minutes off the bench.
• Catelyn Van Es scored one point in six minutes off the bench, going 0-from-3 from three.
• Townsville shot 36-from-69 from the field, 10-from-31 from three and 17-from-26 at the line, with 38 rebounds, 26 assists and nine turnovers.

Perth Lynx

• Georgia Amoore top-scored with 20 points and eight assists on 9-from-14, including 2-from-3 from three, but turned it over six times.
• Anneli Maley had 19 points and 11 rebounds on 7-from-15, going 4-from-4 at the line, with four offensive rebounds.
• Teonni Key had 16 points, eight rebounds and two blocks on 6-from-15, including 1-from-5 from three.
• Stephanie Gorman scored 12 off the bench on 4-from-6, all from three, including the three that cut it to 90-83 with 3:00 left.
• Alex Ciabattoni had nine points and two assists on 4-from-9, including 1-from-5 from three.
• Haley Peters had four points, four rebounds and three assists on 2-from-5 before fouling out with 3:57 left, when Perth were also given a bench technical. Her minus-19 was the worst in the game.
• Samantha Ashby had three points and two steals in nine minutes off the bench.
• Perth shot 34-from-72 from the field, 10-from-28 from three and 8-from-10 at the line, with 40 rebounds, 20 assists and 13 turnovers.