The Adelaide Lightning and Tasmania Jewels faced off in a Round 4 meeting in South Australia. Tassie had won both of their games at home to start the season and were now on the road for a second time, still trying to capture their franchise’s first-ever win outside of the island. For Adelaide, they hadn’t won at home yet, so one team was going to get a monkey off their back.
A 100-68 win for the Lightning was one way to do that as import Maddy Westbeld poured in 29 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal.
“I think we finally started to have fun on the court together,” she shared in the postgame press conference. “I think offensively and defensively, I just feel like we were clicking on a lot of different cylinders. We had each other’s backs; we were making multiple efforts, multiple plays in one possession. We were executing whether the ball goes in or not. Like [head coach Aja Parham-Ammar] said, we were stacking days and the work is always going to show. So I’m just I’m proud of how we came out today.”
A 32-point win might make it a little easier to have fun for an Adelaide team that has been up and down to start the season. Aside from Zitina Aokuso (Z) and Tayla Brazel, there has been little consistency coming from the rest of the Lightning’s box scores. Z is averaging a double-double at 15.8 points and 10 rebounds, shooting 75.6% from the field on the season. Brazel is averaging 13.4 points on 52% from deep on five attempts per game. Outside of those two, nightly production has been largely random.
“It’s more probably more of a, ‘we’re learning each other,'” Parham-Ammar told The IX Sports. “We kind of came together collectively as a whole unit the week before the first week of the season, so it’s been a work in progress. Figuring out, you know, who we’re playing through and what the system looks like and more intentionality on the offensive end. I think the rebounds and the defense and all of that will kind of take care of itself in terms of box scores. Steph’s always going to be one of those top defenders and getting deflections and Z is a great body going to rebound. But in terms of, like, points and assists and where we get those things from, yeah, it’s been a work in progress throughout the beginning of the season.”
After their third loss of the season against Perth, Z was asked about her play in the postgame press conference. She’d just had 20 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, two steals and a block. Her continued growth as a leader shone through, speaking about her unit.
“In the last two days, we spoke about being resilient because the last two games we hadn’t been resilient for the whole four quarters. I think we really were better this game, and then in those last minutes we said that we’re still in this game and just like keep pushing. But still weren’t able to get over the line, but I’m definitely proud of the girls for pushing four quarters.”
At the end of the first quarter against Tassie, Adelaide had an 11-2 advantage on the glass and carried a 27-18 advantage on the scoreboard into the second. The Jewels were up early, but after Westbeld hit both of her free throws with two minutes remaining in the first quarter, Adelaide would hold the lead for the remainder of the game.
Getting to the free-throw line has been a point of emphasis for a Lightning outfit that’s still exploring its identity and wanting to be resilient through 40 minutes of basketball. Their game against was a better example of that, winning the last quarter 28-12, doubling the 16-point lead they held entering the final frame.
When Jacinta Govind of Front Row Hustle delivered the Lightning’s free throw count to Parham-Ammar in the presser, Adelaide’s head coach pumped her fist with joy. They were 20-24 from the line, compared to Tasmania’s 4-8. Opal Steph Reid accounted for more than half of the Jewels’ free-throw count at 3-to-5 for the night. She has been an early contender for an All-WNBL team and All-Defensive team. She wasn’t a lone bright spark for Tassie, but she was the critical piece in her team having the scoreboard early while Adelaide dominated the glass. Reid had eight first-quarter points, including the first two baskets for Tassie, both in the first 50 seconds of the game.
“It was just how it eventuated,” Reid told The IX Sports. “Ella [Tofaeono] does a really, really phenomenal job of setting great screens and getting an advantage. She draws a lot of gravity and we have a lot of great shooters, so I was open at the start of the game. It was really as good as that. It’s a team effort to get anyone open, so yeah, I think that was more of that. I mean, for me, again, Shay Ciezki has been an incredible point guard all season, and I came in with a defensive mindset, and I guess similar to last week with Sydney, like, that really fuels me. It takes my mind off the offensive end, and I just wanted to come out aggressive in that matchup.”
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She harkens back to her response the round prior, when Reid was stellar again against the Sydney Flames, especially Jaz Shelley. Reid had 17 points, six assists, a steal and no turnovers in 32 minutes as she drove the Jewels’ offense against full-court pressure from a variety of Sydney’s perimeter defenders.
She also had the job on Shelley, who was coming off a 26-point, six-rebound, six-assist performance against Townsville. Against Reid, Shelley had four points on 1-for-8 shooting, four rebounds, six assists, two turnovers, and was fouled out after 26 minutes. Reid didn’t allow Shelley to have her imprint felt on the game, which resulted in Tasmania handing Sydney their first loss of the season. After that game, Reid again spoke with The IX Sports.
“I had a really big defensive focus today,” she said. “I think that really feeds for me, like I really enjoy having a defensive assignment. Jaz Shelley’s been playing incredible basketball to start the season. I think we really came in defensively focused. For me, I think that just took away from thinking about the offensive end and allowed it to come a bit more naturally to me. I thought my teammates put me in great positions, created great matchups. Defensively, I was super locked in to that, I think we all were and that was a really fun game to be a part of.”
It was probably Tasmania’s best showing of the season, despite setting the season high for points in a game at 103 in the franchise’s first-ever game against the Geelong Venom. Not only are the Flames a tougher foe than the Venom, but Tassie were challenged throughout their bout against Sydney and routinely showed resolve.
An undefeated, at that time, Sydney team were up as much as 13 in the first quarter on the back of a 16-0 run, and it was looking like another rout. Sydney would also cut the deficit from 12 points to one within the third quarter and, again, looked as if they had an avalanche of momentum to bring them to another win.
However, Tassie never let go of the scoreboard after they took command of it in the second quarter. It was an egalitarian effort from the Jewels, with all starters scoring between 12 and 17 points, as well as two players contributing nine points each off the bench. Reid’s impact in dictating the pace on both ends of the floor could not be ignored, as head coach Claudia Brassard shared with The IX Sports.
“Well, she was brilliant. We struggled to take her off the floor,” coach Brassard shared. “She led from the front, we thought that was, and it is, something that was a big focus of hers is she prides herself on her defense, so certainly that got her going. Offensively, just so impactful in that fourth quarter and hanging on to the ball when they were trying to up their pressure and picking up full court. Just really poised and calm out there; I think that really set the tone for us. And knocked down some big free throws at the end too.”
Tassie have looked like a contender at home and have lost both of their games to teams that are below .500 on the road. The season is still young, so there’s a level of variance that comes with the outcomes of games which aren’t yet standardised. There are likely numerous reasons that have led to this being the case so far, and Brassard hummed, kind of laughed, raised her eyebrow, then offered her assessment after the loss to Adelaide. Then Reid laughed too.
“If I had that answer, I’d be really pleased,” Brassard half-joked. “I think just some breakdowns. I think Steph touched on it as well. We pride ourselves on trying to get some early scores in the pace phase. We couldn’t do that today. They just kept putting the ball in the hoop. And then, you know, then you’re playing with some scoreboard pressure and you’re missing these bunnies that typically, you know, you wouldn’t see Darcee [Garbin] missing those or Gianna [Kneepkens].
“So, I think being able to play through when we get challenged is probably a big one for us. Like against Sydney, we got down and we came back early, but we haven’t really been able to get down in the third or the fourth and then make that comeback yet. So, I think it’s around, you know, what that mindset is when you’re playing under pressure and there’s a bit of scoreboard pressure and being able to make some big shots.”
It seemed as though she did have the answer and there was clarity to what the problem is; the solution might be the hard part. There’s also a gaping hole in the middle as the team awaited the return of Madina Okot, who had work obligations in Atlanta and San Francisco. Okot was set to make her debut in the game against Adelaide, but a delayed flight meant she arrived on game day, so her first taste of WNBL action was as a viewer.
The Jewels’ ‘defend the island’ mantra touches on the early showings of what this team wants to be: defensively minded and tough to play in Tasmania. They want to hang their hat on defense and turn that into transition opportunities. Reid is an exemplary decision-maker to be a driving force for that.
Tassie and Adelaide are emerging teams whose head coaches are in their first full season with the team. The Jewels, of course, are a newly formed team, while Adelaide have just two returning players. The Townsville Fire, on the other hand, are the reigning WNBL champions. They have started their season 4-2, and no two games have looked the same.
Two of their games have been at home at the start of the season, but they will be on the road for seven of their first 10 outings. It’s a gruelling start to the season considering where they are in Australia geographically. They’ve also played the equal most games with Sydney through four rounds of the season. As stated on their website, “with all flights except the Bendigo trip requiring connections through Brisbane, the team will have travelled an estimated 21,700 kilometres by the time they return home from Geelong.” That sounds like a lot.
They kicked off their season in a Grand Final rematch away against the Perth Lynx. With Miela Sowah in the same boat as Okot and Emma Clarke and Chloe Forster starting the season injured, head coach Shannon Seebohm has had a tight rotation to start the season.
Seebohm played seven players, plus 27 seconds from Antoniette Emma-Nnopu, in the season opener. He was honest with The IX Sports when he spoke about their defensive effort.
“Overall, mate, the first quarter, we didn’t contain the ball well; they got downhill for a lot of layups or we had to rotate and gave up drive-and-dish buckets. I thought we didn’t execute a lot of our ball screen coverages very well throughout the game. We gave up dribble handoffs, fake-handoff layups. Haley Peters was getting pick-and-pop threes whenever she wanted. It felt like in that third-quarter patch where they had a lot of their young players or backup players out there, even when there was four Fire players going for a rebound and one Perth player, we would bobble the ball and we just weren’t clean with finishing possessions. So, you know, it’s one of those things, it’s one game and I think we need to learn those lessons and then move on to the next one.”
In the next one, Abbey Ellis would explode for 47 points in Adelaide. It was the most points by a player in a WNBL game since the record of 54 was set by Belinda Snella on Ellis’ fourth birthday. When this message was relayed to her and Seebohm in the postgame press conference, the duo erupted with laughter, then Ellis gave her answer to The IX Sports.
“Oh god, no idea [what I did for my fourth birthday]. I don’t think I picked up a basketball yet. That’s just pretty cool. I think all of us that play WNBL and play basketball, we have that joy for it. And I think, you know, you put all those hours and minutes in and obviously having a game like that, it just puts into perspective a bit that, you know, you get to have these feelings on the court and that’s your job. So, it was pretty cool. And obviously being with those amazing names and watching them growing up. I remember being at the Veneto Club with the Bulleen Boomers, Michele Timms, Tom Maher, watching those games. I was always in the bean bags in the corner with my little domestic team. So, it’s pretty cool, yeah, that’s crazy.”
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It was an exceptional performance from Ellis, who played all 40 minutes, while Seebohm elected to go with seven players again. The team was making their way back to Townsville for their home opener and banner night at the Fire Pit and Seebohm shared his defensive report card with The IX Sports.
“I want to leave our defensive transition in Perth and not even bring that to Adelaide. So that sort of traveled with us somehow. I think in the first half, our ability to stay connected in actions and contain the ball and thought we did a much better job in the second half. I’m very lucky. I get to coach a team of players that genuinely want to be here in Townsville and genuinely care about playing together and with each other and have a lot of pride. And I think we played with more pride in the second half… So hopefully the second half today is something we can take back to Townsville and put four quarters together against Sydney in a few days.”
That Sydney game was the aforementioned 26-6-6 effort from Jaz Shelley. Seebohm was unhappy with his team’s performance again.
“We’ve had three games in a row now where we’ve gotten jumped in the first five minutes. That’s the hard part when you start like that, and you’re down 10 points at the start of the game against a great team, and you let Jaz Shelley score a first basket, Issie Bourne score a first basket on something we talked about as part of our scout. You’re just allowing great players to get their eye in and start to build some confidence.
“If you go back to last season, I would say that was our strength is we would jump teams early, we’d start really well, we’d start aggressively, we’d lock down on the defensive end, and we’d run and we’re just not able to build that momentum right now. So, I think that’s something we need to definitely be able to address.
“And I think the bigger issue, like you said, is we’re relying on adjustments in the game rather than executing what our game plan actually is. I think until we get to the point where we can do that, then as coaches, as players, be able to see what we’re doing well, what’s working, what isn’t, then make adjustments based on that. I think that’s when we’re going to be in a better position.
“I think when you’ve got to make adjustments because you’re not executing plan A, rather than it not working. If we can’t guard the ball and contain the ball or we can’t guard a ball screen the way we want, I don’t think we’re going to be much better with plan B, C, or whatever comes after that.”
Townsville were left on the back foot in their first three games of the season. Despite the win against Adelaide, mostly due to Ellis erupting for an historic performance, they were reacting to their opposition. As Seebohm mentioned, his past teams have dictated the terms of the game. They’ve done this by being a step ahead on the defensive end and running simple but deadly, well-drilled actions offensively.
Since then, they have won their past three games by double digits, giving up scores of 68 against Bendigo, 86 against Perth and 67 against Geelong. They’ve begun to find their form, but there isn’t a standout title favorite so far. Heading into the season, they had a clean sweep from the WNBL’s experts to repeat as champions.
That conversation has been dominated by Townsville, Perth and Bendigo over the past few years. This season, Sydney also joined that cohort, but as the season has progressed, it appears it has never been more wide open. There’s always a natural level of unpredictability in the early goings-on of any sports league. It has manifested in different ways for the Jewels, Lightning and Fire.
The WNBL has sprinted through its first four rounds. Three WNBA Finalists now join the fray in the Aussie league, impacting everyone’s fortunes. It’s no longer a matter of making a pick between Townsville, Perth and Bendigo. All nine teams are well within the peloton, but with the level of competition so high, it’s imperative to get wins on the board to stay within striking distance of postseason play. Clarity in identity and then finding consistency within that, will be key in that.
