FEVER WIN! Unstoppable West Coast into grand final
Fever are one win away from a second premiership in their history, extending their league-record winning streak to 13 games with a 77-45 victory at RAC Arena on Sunday.
They will now await the winner of the preliminary final between the NSW Swifts and Melbourne Vixens next weekend to determine who they will face in this year's grand final at John Cain Arena on August 2.
And it was on the back of shooter Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard who equalled her own record for most goals in a final with 67 to send them into the biggest game of the year in front of 11,838 fans.
In defence Sunday Aryang was clinical with seven gains and three deflections, while Kadie-Ann Dehaney kept prized Swifts recruit Grace Nweke to only 23 goals.
New Diamond Alice Teague-Neeld was exceptional with 26 goal assists, while Shanice Beckford provided plenty of nuisance value in goal attack.
It took less than two minutes for Fever to get the first break in the game as the Swifts struggle to settle into the high-pressure final.
Swifts centre Allie Smith was doing her best to try to rough up Fever counterpart Jordan Cransberg (22 goal assists), but she couldn't keep up with the midcourt dynamo. Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard. Credit: Michael Wilson / The West Australian
It took Fever only five minutes to gain a six-goal lead, forcing Swifts coach Briony Akle to call a time-out to try to compose the visitors.
The crowd was silenced late in the term when former Fever star Verity Simmons went down with an ankle injury to send a scare through the Swifts camp.
Fever continued to pile on the scoreboard pressure through clinical ball movement and the work of Fowler-Nembhard to lead by nine goals at the first break.
NSW were their own worst enemies, coughing up eight turnovers to only three to Fever in the opening quarter. Shanice Beckford. Credit: Michael Wilson / The West Australian
The Swifts needed everything to go right early but a pair of misses from Nweke opened the door for Fever to further take control on the scoreboard.
To make matters worse for NSW, the Fever's defence began to have an influence as they started forcing turnovers and grabbing intercepts.
Akle swung the changes, bringing Simmons back on into centre and the combination of Helen Housby and Sophie Fawns to try to bring them back into the game through super shots.
By half-time the lead had blown out to a remarkable 26 goals, and it was not by if but by how many goals Fever would win by. Alice Teague-Neeld. Credit: Michael Wilson / The West Australian
The third term was a tighter tussle but Fever were still too strong defensively, as the Swifts did their best to close the gap through a series of late super goals.
Fever coach Dan Ryan brought on rising star Olivia Wilkinson into goal attack to start the final term and she like her teammates had an instant impact with the first three goals.
It looked as if the Swifts were going to win the last quarter until Fever hit some late super shots to ensure the crowd would go nuts and celebrate the most remarkable of victories.
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