The West Coast Fever swept aside the NSW Swifts with a tight 63-60 victory in the ANZ Championship netball league at Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre tonight.
The Fever led at each change and survived a final-quarter fightback to claim their second victory over the reigning premiers this year, and
hand the Swifts their seventh-straight loss.
The Swifts were trailing by as much as nine goals in the final period before they went on a five-goal run, showing some slick form, to narrow the deficit to just three goals with five minutes on the clock.
But the young Fever side showed they could withstand the blow torch being applied to them by a far more experienced side as the Swifts narrowed the gap to two.
The Fever remained composed until the final whistle to claim another confidence-boosting win.
The Fever capitalised on the Swifts' defensive woes and found easy inroads into the circle, finding towering star shooter Caitlin Bassett, who nailed 51 goals from 54 attempts at 94 per cent accuracy.
NSW coach Julie Fitzgerald used Samantha May, Emma Koster and Jessica Mansell at keeper during the match to try and halt the prolific scoring of Bassett, but failed to find the answer as to how to shut down the 192cm shooter.
The Swifts started slowly and struggled to match the young Fever outfit for intensity and paid the price with a seven-goal deficit by the end of the first quarter.
The home side fought back magnificently in the second period, urged on by the sellout crowd, outscoring the Fever 17-12 to head in to the main break 31-29.
Fever coach Jane Searle made wholesale changes to her side at halftime, bringing on star centre Shae Bolton, who had a heavily strapped shoulder, and Bianca Franklin to assist Bassett.
The changes worked and displayed the enviable depth of the Fever's bench, as they showed ability to gel with different combinations and pushed score back out to a seven-goal margin, 53-46 at the final change.
- AAP
