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ROCKED on the road by crosstown rival Melbourne, defending champion Southside can start WNBL Round 3 by making immediate amends when it hosts the Boomers at Dandenong Stadium.

Melbourne was reeling after losing at Bendigo to the charged-up Spirit which used an 18-point, 13-rebound double-double from Anneli Maley to lay the groundwork for their breakthrough win.

Bendigo lost to Southside in their opener so whether Melbourne read that as a cue to take the Spirit lightly or not, they paid the price.

Now whether the Flyers then turned around and similarly figured the Boomers would be fair game, they instead ran into a Lindsay Allen-Tiffany Mitchell-Tess Madgen onslaught that left them far in arrears.

Tomorrow the Flyers have a chance to react as positively as Melbourne did to its first reversal and the odds do tend to favour the home team at Dandenong.

Sara Blicavs is extremely unlikely to go scoreless again and Jenna O'Hea also will be fired up to do better than in last round's Boomers' romp.

EVERYTHING went right at all the key times for the Fire in Adelaide last round after Lauren Nicholson shot off to an exceptional start and her teammates followed her example.  Sydney's shot at redemption against Canberra was denied by unforeseen COVID circumstances and now the Flames have suffered a cruel blow losing import Stephanie Watts to a season-ending knee injury. It doesn't look promising for Shyla Heal's return north. 

VISITING teams into Adelaide who complain about the officiating have to be kdding. Local refs here go out of their way to make opposition teams feel welcome, always going to extreme measures to prove they have no hometown bias.

There's no other way to explain three of the five fouls called on Alanna Smith in her WNBL debut for Lightning last week against Townsville. Two were definitely there but three of her fouls, which restricted the Olympian to 15:39 of forced tentative action, were an embarrassment to the referees making them, especially considering how much physicality they let go.

Consequently down by 22 points late in the third quarter, Adelaide's fightback behind the work of Steph Talbot and Marena Whittle was extraordinary, drawing Lightning to within a single point.

Two big turnovers then opened the door again and Townsville, with Monique Billings (15 points, 13 rebounds) and Zitina Aokuso (13 points, 12 boards) in charge, steadied to clinch the contest.

LYING in wait and now nearly a fortnight removed from their previous outing - a tough win in Sydney - Canberra will start red-hot favourite at home against the young Lightning crew. Adelaide can build on the energetic way it played at both ends of the floor in the comeback run against Townsville but sustaining that in the capital against Kelsey Griffin and Co will be challenging. Lightning need more from their import duo, the Caps already well advanced in that area.

ROUND 2 RESULTS

BENDIGO SPIRIT 63 (Maley 18, Lavey 12, Garrick 11; Maley 13 rebs; Lavey 6 assts) d MELBOURNE BOOMERS 58 (George 16, Mitchell 12, Magbegor 8; George 19 rebs; Madgen 4 assts) at The Goldmine, Bendigo Stadium.

TOWNSVILLE FIRE 70 (Nicholson 24, Billings 15, Aokuso 13; Billings 13 rebs; Reid, Nicholson 6 assts) d ADELAIDE LIGHTNING 59 (Talbot 19, Shook 9, Smith 8; Shook 13 rebs; Talbot 4 assts) at Lights Sports Centre.

MELBOURNE BOOMERS 91 (Allen, Mitchell 22, Madgen 20, Magbegor 12; George, Mitchell 9 rebs; George 6 assts) d SOUTHSIDE FLYERS 72 (M. Rocci 21, Bishop 15, Wallace, Cole 10; Bishop 11 rebs; M.Rocci 5 assts) at Melbourne Sports Centre.