Boomers Extinguish Flames With Hot Shooting

The return of captain Jenna O’Hea coincided with the return of some hot shooting by the Deakin Melbourne Boomers in an emphatic 88-65 win against the Sydney Flames.

The Boomers looked ‘on’ from the outset, dropping 29 first quarter points to take a lead that was never surrendered throughout the contest.

A barrage of 11 triples from 20 attempts across the game ensured plenty of highlights in the Fox Sports game of the week, with O’Hea dropping six of the best from downtown in her return from a month’s absence with a calf injury.

Britt Smart (pictured) also got going early and netted 19pts off the bench.

A 25-10 second quarter pushed the margin out to 22pts, the Boomers looking sharp with an inside-out game the Sydneysiders couldn’t get under control.

As expected the second half closed up, the Flames clearly pushing the issue after a half-time rev-up, but upon every push by the home team the Boomers came up with quick answers.

O’Hea led the scoring with 22pts, Britt Smart delivered 19pts on 8-11 shooting, Liz Cambage was excellent with 16pts, 8rbs and 5ast, Maddie Garrick was in form with 14pts, while Kalani Purcell had 10rbs and 6ast in another all-round game.

Pleasingly for the Boomers a 43-28 rebound win was decisive, while a season-high 27 assists highlighted the team ethos that accompanied the crushing win.

Deakin Melbourne Boomers 88 (O’Hea 22, Smart 19, Cambage 16, Garrick 14) def Sydney 65 (Taylor 23).

The Boomers now return home for a showdown with Adelaide on Sunday. The 2:30pm tip-off will mean the home team will face up to a second tough contest inside 24hrs.

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