LACEY LOWDOWN

The star of the show amongst Tall Ferns overseas this week was Jillian Harmon. The power forward stuffed the stats sheet with 27 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and a block as Napoli gained a much-needed 67-62 win against Battipaglia.

It was just the second win of the season for Napoli as they improved to 2-4 on the Italian League table.

A couple of weeks ago Melbourne Boomers sat top of the Australian WNBL with a 4-1 record but had then slumped losing three games on the bounce.

On Melbourne Cup Day eve the Boomers, in front of a full house of over three thousand spectators, scored a much needed win defeating Victorian rivals Dandenong Rangers 60-57.

It was a setting that brought out the best in Kalani Purcell. She isn’t one to ignite the scoreboard with an avalanche of points but in every other statistical category she is likely to contribute and so it proved on Monday.

Purcell played 34 minutes scoring just two points but snared a game high 10 rebounds and added 4 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks.

It was a mixed week for Micaela Cocks and Townsville Fire. The Fire went down 87-68 in Perth against the Lynx but bounced back on Sunday to dismantle Adelaide Fire 84-42.

Cocks totaled 5 points in Perth and with bench minutes spread in the one sided encounter with Adelaide popped up for 3 points and a couple of rebounds.

Chevannah Paalvast scored a couple of points for Canberra Capitals as they went down 81-72 to the top of the table Sydney University Flames.

Melbourne Boomers with a trio of Tall Ferns representatives, Kalani Purcell, Rebecca Ott and coach Guy Molloy, sit atop the Australian WNBL with a 4-1 record.

The Boomers latest success was a tense 79-77 victory against Perth Lynx. Purcell notched 9 points to accompany 6 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal in the win.

Unfortunately Ott has joined Perth Lynx swingman and Tall Ferns teammate Toni Farnworth on the injury list. Ott has a stress fracture of the fibula and will be sidelined for at least a month. Farnworth continues to rehab a fractured wrist with no date confirmed for her return to action.

It was a bad round for Micaela Cocks and Townsville Fire. The Fire went down 66-63 at home to defending champions Sydney Flames on Thursday and were then licked 86-69 on Saturday at Dandenong.

Cocks saw plenty of minutes for the Fire but only totaled 3 points, 4 rebounds and a brace of assists over the two games.

In Italy Napoli slipped to a third straight loss going down 75-61 at Ragusa. Jillian Harmon had a game high 13 rebounds and also dished 5 assists for Napoli. However it wasn’t the best of shooting games from the Tall Ferns forward as she connected with just 2 of 11 attempts from the field to finish with 9 points.

Napoli is languishing in 9^th spot in the 10 team Italian League with a 1-3 record.

Jillian Harmon was the best individual performer amongst the overseas base Tall Ferns last weekend but it didn’t help secure a win.

In contrast Kalani Purcell and the Melbourne Boomers had a very satisfactory weekend recording two victories.

Purcell made 9 points plus 4 rebounds and an assist as Melbourne thumped Bendigo Spirit 90-63 on Friday.

It was equally comfortable on Sunday as Melbourne, coached by Tall Ferns assistant Guy Molloy cruised past Canberra Capitals 92-63 to improve to 3-1 for the season. A quiet 4 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists for Purcell in this one.

Two games played and two wins registered for Townsville Fire after a 76-63 win against Canberra up in Queensland on Friday. Micaela Cocks scored 5 points to accompany 4 rebounds and a solitary assist.

Toni Farnworth is still recovering from a fractured wrist and missed the Perth Lynx double-header road trip. The Lynx lost both fixtures going down to Adelaide Lightning and Bendigo Spirit to slip to 0-3 after the first two rounds of the season – looks as if they need the Tall Ferns guard back as soon as possible.

Despite a game high 19 points Jillian Harmon will have been bitterly disappointed by Napoli’s 79-70 home loss to Le Mura Lucca in the Italian League.

Lucca is the team Harmon helped to the Italian Championship last season but they proved too strong for Napoli who are now 1-2 after a second straight loss.

The Australian WNBL began at the weekend with Micaela Cocks and her Townsville Fire team getting one over on Melbourne Boomers with Kalani Purcell in their lineup.

The Fire won 63-54 with Cocks contributing a solid 8 points that included a brace of threes, 2 rebounds, an assist and a steal.

Purcell had 4 points and 4 rebounds for the Boomers.

It wasn’t all bad news for Purcell as in the opening game of the weekend, on debut, she contributed in her usual manner attempting to fill every stats category – 6 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and a block – Melbourne beating Dandenong Rangers 76-61.

Chevannah Paalvast was also making her debut, the Tall Fern guard playing five minutes for Canberra Capitals as it beat Bendigo Spirit 93-80. Long enough for Paalvast to get on the scoreboard with a couple of points.

Toni Farnworth was unable to suit up for Perth Lynx as she sustained a fractured wrist in a pre season game the previous weekend. The Lynx missed the influential Kiwi guard going down 93-80 at home to last season’s champions Sydney University Flames.

In Italy Jillian Harmon scored 9 points and added 6 rebounds and 3 assists in 38 minutes of action but Napoli went down 51-48 at home to Venezia in its second game of the season. In a defence dominated encounter Napoli managed just 8 points in the fourth quarter.