Despite a brave performance against arguably the League's most in-form team, the Melbourne Mavericks were unfortunately defeated, 63-69, by the West Coast Fever in their penultimate home game of the season.
With the Fever currently sitting second on the ladder, they are determined to claim top spot, but the Mavs certainly didn't let them have it all their way. Fever midcourter, Alice Teague-Neeld, said post-match, “[The] Mavs really made us work, their defense made it really difficult for us to find that flow.”
Q1: Mavs 15 – 22 Fever
Fever opened strongly, intercepting the Mavs’ first centre pass through Kadie-Ann Dehaney. Their defensive unit was solid, making it difficult for the Mavs to break through. A key match-up saw Amy Parmenter take on Teague-Neeld, a dominant feeder and circle edge driver, with the Mavs captain applying constant defensive pressure. After a timeout, the Mavs responded – Jessie Grenvold earned the first win for the Mavs on Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard, and followed up with a deflection, showing why she earned her first Suncorp Super Netball (SSN) starting spot. Molly Jovic and Maisie Nankivell began to make clearer drives to the circle, protecting their passes. The Mavs came back within four, before a late Fever surge pushed the margin back to seven at quarter time.
Q2: Mavs 27 – 38 Fever
The Fever kept the scoreboard ticking over in the second term, capitalising on a Mavs forced error early on. But a full-court pressure act from the Mavs created a shift. Sasha Glasgow and Shimona Jok fired up, echoing ‘yes’ as the crowd celebrated a goal. With Parmenter securing an intercept and Kim Brown adding a deflection, the Mavs kept themselves in the contest. Down by 14, Uneeq Palavi entered the match for the first time for the Power Five, joined by Tayla Fraser at WA and Liv Lewis at GK – a change across all thirds of the court. Glasgow and Palavi each nailed super shots, and a steal by Jovic set Glasgow up again, keeping the Mavs in reach.
Q3: Mavs 44 – 52 Fever
Jok returned to court early in the second half, creating space for long feeds from Jovic. Although the margin remained at 10, the momentum began to swing the Mavs’ way. Fraser was dynamic with quick drives and a defensive tip, while Brown added another intercept. Palavi returned to GS for the Power Five and converted a Super Shot after a desperate chase from Parmenter. Lewis contested under post with a strong rebound. Glasgow closed the quarter with a Super Shot on the buzzer, taking the Mavs to win the quarter by 3.
Q4: Mavs 63 – 69 Fever
The Mavs entered their statistically strongest quarter ready to fight. The first 10 minutes were tight, with neither team being favored, and the Mavs still trailing by 10. A tactical timeout was called heading into the Power Five, and Palavi returned to the court in GS, helping ignite the side. She hit two Super Shots to bring them back within eight with just over three minutes left. Defensive efforts came from all areas – Glasgow with a deflection and Parmenter with another intercept entering the final minute. Palavi landed two more Super Shots, finishing with six for the game. Despite taking out the last quarter, the Mavs fell just short, proving again they can finish strong, but yet again, the gap was just too much to chase.
Mavs Reserves
The Mavs Reserves are straight through to the Super Netball Reserves Grand Final on Sunday 22 June. After back-to-back wins this weekend, they’ve proven their dominance and the depth within the Mavericks program, and all in the team's inaugural season.
They took down the Swifts Academy 64–53 on Saturday, and backed it up with a 62–47 win over the Giants Reserves on Sunday.
The Mavs are off to Brisbane to take on the Queensland Firebirds next weekend. With both teams sitting on two wins apiece so far this season, it will be a game to watch.
