Lightning blows 20-pt lead, score just two in 3rd

• Townsville Fire secure narrow 53-47 victory over Adelaide Lightning
• Courtney Woods leads Fire with 16 points and 5 rebounds
• Brianna Turner dominates boards for Lightning with 12 rebounds

Adelaide Lightning blew a 20-point half-time led against the Townsville Fire, losing 53-47 in tough Round Four WNBL clash (Game Centre) at the Townsville Entertainment Centre on Saturday, November 23, 2024.

The Lightning, coming off their first win of the season, dominated early, jumping out to an 18-9 first quarter lead and 40-20 at half-time. But the wheels fell off the road team in the third, scoring just two points as the Fire closed to within six — 42-26 — at the final break.

It didn't get any better for the Lightning as the Fire went on a 7-0 run to take the lead with six minutes left in the fourth.

Steph Talbot put the South Australians back in front 47-46 with the first of two free throws with 2:43 left but that would be the last point Adelaide scored.

Townsville's Courtney Woods made a pair of free throws to give the Fire the lead — 48-47 — for good.

The Fire won the game at the line, with the last five points all coming from free throws. Woods iced the game with 2-2 from the line with 26 seconds left.

Fire's offense struggles in low-scoring affair

Both clubs struggled from the field with Townsville shooting just 30.8% while Adelaide was only marginally better at 33.8%. But the Fire managed to find just enough to secure the win their third win of the season. Courtney Woods led the way for Townsville, pouring in 16 points on 4-13 shooting from the field in 34 minutes. She also grabbed five boards and dished out three assists. Alexandra Fowler added 11 points and eight rebounds. Fowler was 3-5 from the field and 5-6 from the free throw line.

The Fire struggled big-time from beyond the arc, hitting just 9.1% of their three-point attempts while the Lightning hit just 23.1%.

Lightning struck by offensive woes

Japreece Dean, coming off a 20-point night against the Flames, finished with nine points on 3-9 from the field. No Adelaide player reached double figures.

Brianna Turner, who played 40 minutes, ripped down a game-high 12 rebounds but was just 1-7 from the field for two points.

WNBA player Steph Talbot contributed across the board with eight points, nine rebounds, and an assist

Adelaide drops to a 1-4 record to start the season, while Townsville improves to 3-2. Adelaide snapped its three-game losing streak to start the season against the Sydney Flames (Game Centre) at home on Wednesday, November 20, 2024 but couldn't get to back wins in Townsville.

Looking ahead, the Fire will aim to maintain their momentum as they gone on a two-game road trip, facing the Perth Lynx in Perth in Round Five (Game Centre) on Wednesday, November 27, 2024, before playing the Lightning again (Game Centre) in Adelaide on Friday, November 29, 2024.