{"id":175662,"date":"2025-12-05T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/?p=175662"},"modified":"2025-12-03T16:35:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T05:35:09","slug":"venom-look-to-turn-things-around-in-ballarat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/sport\/venom-look-to-turn-things-around-in-ballarat\/","title":{"rendered":"Venom look to turn things around in Ballarat"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>GEELONG Venom will look to bounce back from two straight overtime losses in the WNBL when they face Bendigo tonight (Friday, December 5) at Sellkirk Stadium in Ballarat.<\/p>\n<p>In their first two matches of a three-game road trip, the Venom fought hard across four quarters but failed to fire in the extra period against Adelaide and Sydney.<\/p>\n<p>They now have a 3-6 record as the halfway point of the season approaches, making tonight&#8217;s clash against the Spirit crucial to keep their finals hopes alive.<\/p>\n<p>Closing out close matches has become a glaring issue for Geelong, with five of their six losses being by seven points or less.<\/p>\n<p>When they last played Bendigo in October, they went down by seven points following a second-quarter lapse.<\/p>\n<p>The Spirit have started their season strongly, sitting second on the ladder with a 7-2 record.<\/p>\n<p>Geelong forward Mackenzie Holmes will once again enter the clash as a key player. The US import sits first for points per game (24.4) and fourth for rebounds per game (9.78) in her debut WNBL campaign.<\/p>\n<p>Recruit Shyla Heal continues to build as she returns from a knee injury, with her pace and intensity becoming important for her side.<\/p>\n<p>The Venom may also draw on co-captain Jaz Shelley to lock down Spirit gun Isobel Borlase, who is second in points per game this season and dropped 27 in their recent win over Adelaide.<\/p>\n<p>Freshly signed injury replacement player Georgia Woolley will make her debut in the clash.<\/p>\n<p>Following tonight&#8217;s game in Ballarat, the Venom will return to the Geelong Arena to take on the 2-6 UC Capitals this Sunday, December 7.<\/p>\n<p>For tickets, head to the WNBL website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>GEELONG Venom will look to bounce back from two straight overtime losses in the WNBL when they face Bendigo tonight (Friday, December 5) at Sellkirk Stadium in Ballarat. In their first two matches of a three-game road trip, the Venom fought hard across four quarters but failed to fire in the extra period against Adelaide [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/sport\/venom-look-to-turn-things-around-in-ballarat\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":249,"featured_media":175663,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-175662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Venom look to turn things around in Ballarat - Surf Coast Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Geelong Venom aim to rebound in the WNBL as they face Bendigo in Ballarat, hoping to snap overtime losses and keep their finals push alive.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/sport\/venom-look-to-turn-things-around-in-ballarat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Venom look to turn things around in Ballarat - 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