The Southside Flyers spoilt the celebrations of milestone man Guy Molloy by defeating his Sydney Flames 83-67, in front of the biggest crowd at Quaycentre (1655) during the WNBL25 season.
Match summary
Carly Ernst opened the match's scoring before centre Yemiyah Morris returned serve following a sweet dime by Shaneice Swain. The latter two combined for the next bucket too before Bonnie Deas - in her first career start - added four straight. When Tahlia Tupaea nailed a triple, yet again off a Swain assist, the lead was six, forcing Kristi Harrower to call a time-out. That break worked for the visitors, who closed the margin to just two. A quickfire five by Swain, including a shot clock-beating triple cemented the Flames' lead. A late flurry by Tahlia Tupaea gave the Hoops Capitals side the 23-18 lead at quarter-time.
FLAMES WNBL25 FINALS INFORMATION
Scores by Tupaea and Isabella Brancatisano, following a huge block by Morris, kept the Flames in front. The latter's pick and roll with Swain continued to work a treat for the harbour city side, but the Flyers did go away and when Naz Hillmon nailed a triple, the visitors had the lead (35-33). A Swain triple got the Flames' noses back in front but that was short-lived as Southside led 40-38 at half-time.
Creating space, creating points 🔥
Watch via 9Now!#BringTheHeat @SwainShaneice @LASparks pic.twitter.com/2UPIDjfl68
- Sydney Flames (@TheSydneyFlames) February 15, 2025
That lead grew to six after a 4-0 run to start the term before Carla Pitman ended the drought. Despite an and-one by Tupaea and corner-three by Deas, the Flyers stayed in front thanks to a run of open shots and fast-break buckets. The two sides then traded shots from distance, seeing the Flyers hold a seven-point advantage (64-57) at the final change.
Five points by Maddi Rocci, of the Flyers' first two possessions down the court, made it a 12-point game - which quickly blew out to 16 with 7.26 on the clock. Finally, the 9-0 run ended when Brancatisano hit a shot from the charity stripe. But missed shots and turnovers cruelled the Flames in the fourth until Brancatisano finally converted a trademark corner three. Scores by Swain and Deas down the stretch gave the Flames a chance but it proved too little, too late as the Flyers ran out winners by 16.
Where the match was decided
The Flyers secured the win on the back of statistical victories in field goal percentage (48-37), free-throw percentage (91-77), assists (21-12), points in the paint (40-30), bench points (11-4) and fast-break points (19-4),
Key moment
A 45-29 second-half surge by the Flyers proved the difference on Saturday night.
Player of the game
Swain top-scored with 20 points (including four triples) while also handing out five assists.
Other to reach double-figures for the hosts were Tupaea (15), Morris (11 points and 11 boards) and Deas (11 points and 10 rebounds).
What's next
The Flames, who finish the season in fourth spot on the ladder with an 8-13 record, have now qualified for the semi-finals for the first time in seven seasons.
Molloy's side will be pitted against Bendigo in the best-of-three-game semi-final series, with game one in Bendigo on February 23 before Sydney hosting game two on February 27 at Quaycentre - with tickets on sale to the general public at 9:30am on Wednesday, February 19.
Keep up to date with all the club's final information here.
