By Marcus Uhe
The absence of Lauren Jackson from the Southside Flyers’ lineup did not affect last season’s runner up in Saturday’s clash with the University of Canberra.
A lock-down defensive performance from Southside saw them concede their lowest points total for the season, downing the visiting Capitals 81-64 at the State Basketball Centre.
It was the two sides’ second meeting of the year and delivered the same outcome, following a 104-79 win to Southside in Canberra back in round two.
Southside retook the lead with just under two minutes played in the opening quarter and never looked back as they raced to a 24-10 lead at the end of the period.
Canberra scored threes on two early possessions but scored only four points for the remainder of the opening 10 minutes as Southside applied the clamps, a 10-0 run separating the sides in the early stages.
But the Capitals hit back with the first 11 points in the second quarter to work their way back into the contest, holding the home side scoreless for the opening four minutes of the period.
In a contrast in scoring approaches, the Capitals were content with shooting the three ball with high frequency and success, while the Flyers looked to work the ball inside to Mercedes Russell, who was too big and too strong for Canberra’s bigs.
A loose ball after a miss from Carley Ernst, with what should have been the Flyers’ final possession of the half, was quickly swooped upon by veteran Rebecca Cole, as her opponent in Monica Okoye dribbled the ball off her own foot and into Cole’s waiting hands.
Cole fired the pass back to a cutting Ernst, who made no mistake on the layup on what was a significant turnaround as the clock expired in the first half.
From giving Canberra a chance to cut the lead to as low as two points with a successful three-point shot, Southside extended the lead to seven at the long break and take any wind out of Canberra’s sails.
From a perimeter-orientated approach in the first half, Canberra switched to attacking the rim and specifically targeting Russell, involving her in actions and forcing her to chase guards driving down hill with fleet feet on their side.
Canberra cut the lead to three points early in the term, making the initial running out of the break as they had in the opening two periods.
Southside responded with seven consecutive points however, to hold them at arms-length, aided by maximising their trips to the free throw line.
The margin was 11 points at the beginning of the final term before Southside’s defence went to another level to eliminate the visitors’ hopes of stealing an upset win on the road.
The Flyers did not allow a Capitals field goal until nearly four minutes into the quarter, by which point the gap had grown to 17 points, the largest of the game.
A blocked jump-shot from Russell led to a Nyadiew Puoch fast break on the other end of the floor to reach the 17-point lead and effectively put the contest to bed with six minutes remaining.
Russell’s performance was one of her best since returning to the Flyers this season, with 21 points, 11 rebounds and four assists in what was her third double-double from six games.
Captain Cole provided a steady presence whenever her side needed it to snuff out any momentum that Canberra looked to build, finishing with 17 points and six assists, while Ernst did a bit of everything in her first start for the season with nine points, five rebounds and five assists.
The Flyers get to spend another week in Melbourne ahead of Saturday’s upcoming clash with the Bendigo Spirit.
