Bueta Shines In Firebirds’ Upset Fever After Magpies Take Down Swifts

Gretel Bueta inspired the Queensland Firebirds to one of their biggest wins in a 72-68 game of West Coast Fever in Perth.

In Saturday’s earlier game, the Collingwood Magpies kept their hopes for the final alive in a 66-58 win against the NSW Swifts at the John Cain Arena in Melbourne.

Needing a win to restore confidence after a four-game loss, the Firebirds did it in style by beating runner-up Fever in a shocking result that lifted the Queenslanders from seventh to provisional third in the standings.

Indigenous players Donnell Wallam and Jemma Mi Mi wept tears of joy after the First Nations Round’s nail-biter and their Firebirds teammates celebrated like it was a grand finale.

It might as well have been for an outfit at risk of dropping out of the final after looking strong for much of the season.

Bueta took advantage of the absence of Fever midfielders Verity Simmons and Jess Anstiss to score 40 goals in the season, just a week after a subpar performance against the Sunshine Coast Lightning.

A boil over was on the cards when Firebirds coach Megan Anderson’s audacious run on Mia Stower paid off, with the substitute goalkeeper sinking two super shots to bring the scores to 53-53 three quarters of the time.

There were some anxious moments in the final period as the Fever bounced back from a four-goal deficit to a one-goal deficit.

But an interception by Gabi Simpson with three minutes to go brought the Firebirds’ ship to a halt.

While Anderson made just one substitution in 60 minutes, Fever coach Dan Ryan made more than a dozen, but none of them had the effect she was looking for.

Jhaniele Fowler shot a perfect 60-for-60, but it wasn’t enough to save the home side from an ambush.

Mi Mi scored an intercept on one of her first strikes as the Firebirds kept pace with their hosts throughout the first half.

Alice Teague-Neeld’s 21 feeds in the first half stood out because of the Fever, while the Firebirds had a more even spread of contributions.

Wallam and defender Ruby Bakewell-Doran were key members of the Firebirds’ resistance, and Bueta was something else.

With 16 goals in the first half, she was on track for a big run and her one-handed, fade-away shot – while it fell off the track – in the second quarter was one for the highlight role.

Magpies stay in final battle

With two laps to go after this weekend, the Magpies joined the Swifts just outside the top four with five wins, with percentage looming as a deciding factor in finishing the final race.

Magpies shooter Shimona Nelson scored a perfect 52 goals from 52 attempts, but this was a win for the defence.

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Geva Mentor (seven wins) and Jodi-Ann Ward (eight) drove Collingwood’s comeback and goalkeepers Nelson and Gabby Sinclair did the rest.

They were the driving forces behind a 22-point third quarter that ruined Swifts defender Maddy Turner’s 100th national league game.

To the credit of the Magpies they were not further behind after being five points behind at half time.

A masterful mid-court performance by Maddy Proud and Paige Hadley cut Collingwood to ribbons.

Their quick passing gave the Magpies defenders no chance to disrupt the Swifts charge, and by half time Collingwood’s Commonwealth Games aspiring Sophie Garbin was benched after failing to make a significant impact on the scoreboard.

Magpie Wing Defense Ash Brazill launched herself at everything, but couldn’t get her hands to the ball as the Swifts’ attack advanced with precision.

Ward and Mentor wanted their side back in the game in the third term.

Together they racked up 10 gains for the quarter to work their way to a decisive lead at the latest change.

MONKEY/ABC