Adelaide never looked troubled with an emphatic win over the previous league leaders Canberra Capitals with a 93 – 77 victory to claim top spot.

With Canberra getting a few quick scores early in the piece, it made Adelaide wake up with Cayla Francis leading the charge with nine out of her 19 points within the first seven minutes of the game, and Adelaide marched on to a 14-point lead at halftime.

Canberra shot well below their averages converting just 4/19 3-point attempts and only 38 per cent of field goals.

Transition baskets from Canberra’s Jess Bibby and a game-high 22-point effort from Abby Bishop kept the lead from blowing out but Mia Newley sparked Adelaide into gear when she came off the bench.

Tracy Gahan’s triple-double and Jess Foley stretched Adelaide’s lead to 22 points at one stage before Canberra closed the gap to 15 points at the final buzzer.

The Dandenong Rangers have overpowered the Logan Thunder to record a stirring 67-51 win in their round 9 clash of the ADF WNBL on Friday night at Insports.

After the Thunder scooted out to an early seven-point lead in front of their home crowd, the Rangers stormed back to control the match and held a 15-point margin at halftime.

Despite being down by as much as 20 points in the third period, the Thunder showed some fight in the last two terms.

Plenty of uncharacteristic mistakes, including 20 turnovers and uncanny bad defensive reads begun to creep into the Thunder’s game giving them no chance of creating any rhythm and making a late charge for an unlikely upset.

Rangers’ 20-year-old Nicole Hunt was exceptional scoring at 65 per cent from the field including 4/6 from outside the three-point line and finishing with an equal game-high 14-points.

Thunder forwards Holly Smith and Brittany Davis showed some pleasing signs in the first half, but Thunder captain, Kristen Veal, was the only player that created some headaches for the Rangers in the final half finishing with 14-points and 13 rebounds in the disappointing defeat.

The Bendigo Spirit has recorded consecutive wins in the ADF WNBL after a nine-point triumph over Bulleen on Saturday night.

The Spirit overcame a slow start to defeat the Boomers 80-71 to improve its record to 4-5.

The Spirit opened the second term with a 16-6 run inside the first three minutes to regain the lead for the first time since early in the first term.

The Spirit led grew to as many as 18 points during the final quarter, before the Boomers rallied late to cut the final margin to single figures.

King led the Spirit with a game-high 19 points, while Haring (13), Kristi Harrower (12), Dee Butler (11) and Wilson (10) also scored in double figures.

For the Boomers, whose record now stands at 8-4, they were best served by the lively Sharin Milner (16), Elyse Penaluna (12) who had a good tussle with Gabe Richards, and Katrina Hibbert (10).

Former Rangers Rachael Flanagan and Aneka Kerr took the bragging rights when their new team Townsville Fire overcame Dandenong 64-60 at New Projects Australia Stadium on Saturday night.

The toll of the Rangers’ long road trip to Queensland showed in their second game of the weekend when they flagged in the final quarter.

Dandenong had taken a five-point lead into the fourth term but Townsville reversed the lead with a 15-6 run to take the four-point win. Ranger Jenni Benningfield scored a game-high 19 points but left the court with five fouls when scores were level and three minutes of play remained.

Dandenong converted only one of five basket attempts in the final five minutes of the game after taking a five-point lead into the last term.

The Capitals entered the second game of their two match road double off the back of an earlier loss to last season’s champions the Adelaide Lightning on Friday night but managed to put it behind them for a commanding 35-point win over Perth on Sunday, leading from the first basket to register a 91-56 win.

The home team again struggled in the paint, with the Capitals’ talls proving too big and too strong with centre Abby Bishop leading the way with a massive 14 rebounds to go with her 10 points.

It was clear in the opening minutes the game would be a tough physical affair with Perth’s exuberant defensive game leading them into foul trouble early.

Perth’s best player and captain, Deanna Smith, who had a quiet night against Dandenong in Perth’s previous game, was also struggling on her home court, managing just 5 points for the game.

Close checking from the Capitals had Smith well and truly off her game as she struggled to make an impact in the key while committing several turnovers.

In the end, the visitor’s dominance of the boards (59 to 29) gave them too many second chances while Perth struggled in offence missing easy baskets and shooting at just 31% from the field.

Courtesy of www.wnbl.com.au