GEELONG VENOM have continued a strong finish to their WNBL campaign, securing two impressive victories in the space of three days.<\/p>\n
On Friday last week, the Venom upset finals fancies Bendigo in their last home clash of the season, before comfortably overcoming Sydney at the Quaycentre yesterday (Sunday, February 1) afternoon.<\/p>\n
While a finals berth is unachievable, the two wins see Geelong move up to outright sixth on the ladder with one match to play.<\/p>\n
In their first match of the double-header, Geelong\u2019s rock-solid defence forced Bendigo to commit 17 turnovers and restricted them to just 31 point in the second half.<\/p>\n
The clash was a see-sawing affair, until a 14-0 run in the second half pushed the Venom ahead.<\/p>\n
Trio Mackenzie Holmes, Alissa Pili and Shyla Heal dominated in the win, scoring 27, 26 and 20 points respectively.<\/p>\n
Co-captain Jaz Shelley added seven rebounds, seven assists and five steals in a crucial performance despite being held scoreless.<\/p>\n
The Venom then travelled to Sydney to face the Flames and prevailed by 13 points.<\/p>\n
They never trailed in the matchup and kept their opponent at arm\u2019s length in a consistent, four-quarter effort.<\/p>\n
Holmes starred again, contributing 21 points and 11 rebounds, whilst Shelley had 20 points and six rebounds in her 50th WNBL match.<\/p>\n
“We played 36 hours ago, and it was always going to be a grind and a<\/p>\n
bit sloppy at times,” Geelong coach Chris Lucas said after the game.<\/p>\n
“But I felt in the third quarter, our energy level kicked in.”<\/p>\n
Geelong will travel to Canberra for their final game of the season, where they will take on the fifth-placed UC Capitals at AIS Arena this Saturday, February 7.<\/p>\n
A win could see them finish as high as fifth and would cap off a tricky 2025\/26 campaign on a positive note.<\/p>\n
– WITH AAP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
GEELONG VENOM have continued a strong finish to their WNBL campaign, securing two impressive victories in the space of three days. On Friday last week, the Venom upset finals fancies Bendigo in their last home clash of the season, before comfortably overcoming Sydney at the Quaycentre yesterday (Sunday, February 1) afternoon. While a finals berth […]<\/p>\n