'By George', Cayla flames United on road

• Shaneice Swain leads Sydney with 21 points and 7 assists
• Cayla George posts double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds
• Geelong's Haley Jones scores 16 points in losing effort

Veteran WNBA star and Australian Opals forward Cayla George proved once again class is permanent.

George, 35, was formidable on both sides of the ball with a 16-point and 13-rebound double-double to lead the Sydney Flames to a crucial 81-74 WNBL road win against Geelong United (Game Centre) in Round 7 on Saturday, December 14, 2024.

George is an Olympic bronze medallist, WNBA champion (2023), four-time WNBL champion (2015, 2016, 2018, 2022), WSBL champion (2024), WNBL Most Valuable Player (2023), WSBL Finals MVP (2024), three-time All-WNBL First Team (2015, 2020, 2023) and two-time All-WNBL Second Team (2019–20, 2022).

But as the saying goes, "you're only as good as your last game" — and George is still one of the best going around in the WNBL. She filled out the box score with three assists and two blocks.

The Flames (4-4) have now won three on the bounce, snapping United (4-5) two-game winning streak.

Sydney head coach Guy Molloy said: "Definitely pleased with an away win, they're important to get. We lost from two starters — Mikaela Ruef and Emma Clarke — so, we put a ton of pressure on a really young team.

"I thought we executed really well on both ends in the first half and the second was just, pretty manic. It was sort like an AFL game, it was that physical, with bodies flying everywhere, which got into Geelong United's style, not necessarily our style.

"They forced us to meet that physicality, so credit to the young team that we did do that and made enough plays to get it home."

Sydney's Shaneice Swain finished with game-high 21 points to go along with seven assists. The dynamic guard proved to be a handful for Geelong's defense all night.

Teammate and guard Bonnie Deas, 21, said: "I love playing with Shaneice. She's a great asset in our team and I'm learning a lot from her."

Deas had a ball game herself. She went 3-from-3 from the field including a pair of threes in 17 minutes as well as three rebounds, an assist and steal.

Molloy added: "(Swain) is definitely an outstanding talent but she simply turned the ball over tonight far too often, I can't say any more than that. She's got to learn to take care of that because her talent, her ability to score in bunches is deadly, so we just need some error minimalisation."

Swain had 12 turnovers.

Turnovers hurt Geelong in the first quarter, disrupting the home side's offense and it showed on the scoreboard. The Flames led 25-12 after one and from then on it was an uphill battle. But as Molloy said, United pulled the game back into their own terms getting to 76-72 with 3:28 to go in the game. Flames guard Celeste Taylor hit a big three to push it back out to seven to essentially kill off the ball game.

For Geelong, Haley Jones led the way with 16 points, three rebounds, and three assists.

What's next

The streaking Flames go on the road to Townsville (Game Centre) on Wednesday, December 18, 2024 in the first clash of Round 8 while Geelong United face a tough road trip to the second-placed 7-3 Perth Lynx (Game Centre) on Monday, December 23, 2024.

* For those wondering, “By George” is an expression that originated in the late 19th century as a shortened version of the oath “By St. George”. It was used as a motivator before charging into battle, and was still in use as late as World War I. The expression can also be used to express approval or astonishment.