Posted on 1 August, 2016

Managing just two points over the game’s opening seven minutes, Kilsyth appeared headed for an ugly showing on the road early on, trailing by as many as 11 points early in the second quarter. But pull-up jumper by Rosie Moult started a dominant run by the Lady Cobras, with guard Chantella Perera leading a furious charge to give Kilsyth the lead at halftime.

Perera scored nine points in the final 3:05 of the second period, capping the quarter with a transition layup as time expired to give the Lady Cobras a 34-30 lead heading into the locker room. The 19-4 run to close the half proved to be the difference maker, as Nunawading would have no answers the rest of the way.

The Spectres would pull to within five points early in the third quarter, but Jasmine Gill and Steph Cumming shifted into overdrive the rest of the game, combining to outscore Nunawading over the game’s final 20 minutes as Kilsyth added yet another quality win to their impressive resume this season. Gill bounced back from a slow start to pour in 17 second half points, with Cumming adding 12 as they outgunned the entire Spectres roster, 29-26, in the third and fourth quarters.

Cumming recorded a game-high 24 points on an efficient 9/16 shooting, Gill finished with 21 points and eight rebounds, and Perera added 16 points off the bench in the win. With the Lady Cobras struggling to generate easy buckets early on, it was their hustle on the offensive glass that kept them close, with Gill and Emily Fryters (eight points, 13 rebounds) combining for nine of Kilsyth’s 15 offensive rebounds.

"We constantly talk about winning the effort part of the game and we have done that the past few weeks,” Lady Cobras Head Coach Sam Woosnam said.

”To grab 15 offensive rebounds on Saturday night was very pleasing to see.”

Woosnam was impressed with the performances of Fryters and Perera, with the pair sparking the Lady Cobras comeback with high energy play on both ends of the floor.

“I’m really happy with the contributions across the scoreboard, especially from Emily and Chantella,” Woosnam said.

“Their play is taking some of the load off our regular scorers which makes us tougher to guard.”

With Kilsyth frantically trying to hold off Launceston for first place in the South Conference, Woosnam believes that nerves may have played a part in their slow start on Saturday. But as has been the case all season long, once the Lady Cobras found their rhythm offensively, nothing was going to stand in their way.

"We have placed some emphasis on not dropping a game for the rest of the season and that may have put some pressure on us offensively early on,” Woosnam added.

"Once we hit a few shots and settled into playing our game, everything just continued from there and we were able to pull away with a comfortable win."

The win moves Kilsyth’s record to a league-best 16-2, with the Lady Cobras holding a two-game buffer on the Tornadoes in the loss column with three games to play. The victory also ensured that Kilsyth retains the Dick Thomas Cup for the second consecutive year, which is awarded based on aggregate point total over the team’s two match-ups this season.

The Lady Cobras travel to Geelong on Saturday night to take on the Supercats (5.00pm), before returning home to battle Sandringham on Sunday at 12.00pm.