Another second half meltdown on the defensive end has seen the Lady Cobras fall to Dandenong, 72-85. Simply overwhelmed down low, Kilsyth conceded 19 offensive rebounds and were dominated by Lauren Scherf, with the centre exploding for a career-high 36 points.

The Cobras started well, trailing by just four points at halftime in what was a high quality first half. The deficit was still just four following a 3-pointer from Rosie Moult with 4:46 remaining in the third quarter, but the Rangers closed the period on a 13-6 run to take a 68-57 lead into the game’s final 10 minutes.

Kilsyth would close to within 61-68 early in the fourth, but it was as close as they would get, with Scherf taking over the game late to hand the Lady Cobras their third home loss of the season.

After a down month in July, Moult returned to form for the Cobras, finishing with 17 points in a losing effort, while Louella Tomlinson finished with her best offensive output of the season, scoring 21 points on 10-15 shooting. Yvonne Anderson finished with 13 points and six assists, but did much of her damage with the game already out of reach, while Sarah Parsons had another spectacular first half but was quite over the final 20 minutes.

SWINBURNE LADY COBRAS vs BALLARAT RUSH – 80-85 LOSS
Louella Tomlinson (32pts/16reb/2blk), Rosie Moult (22pts/6reb/4ast)

Despite huge games from Louella Tomlinson and Rosie Moult, the Lady Cobras again faded late to fall 80-85 to Ballarat. Taking a two-point lead into the final period, Kilsyth fell apart at the offensive end, scoring just 12 points in the fourth quarter to see a two-point lead disappear.

Down 80-82 with 50 seconds remaining, Sarah Parsons missed a difficult shot in traffic to potentially tie the game and the Rush’s Steph Cumming made them pay on the other end to put Ballarat up 84-80. Moult’s 3-point attempt to keep the game alive with 23 seconds left was off and the Lady Cobras were unable to foul quickly, falling to their second loss in as many nights.

Though Tomlinson and Moult were spectacular over the game’s first 30 minutes, they were held in check in the final period and the Lady Cobras shot a combined 3/14 from the field. Outside of Tomlinson, Moult and Olivia Bontempelli (4/6 FG), Kilsyth shot a paltry 19% from the field and 11% from deep.

Tomlinson carried the Lady Cobras early, exploding for 15 first quarter points and finishing the first half with 23 points. Moult came alive in the third period, catching fire for 11 points. She buried her sixth 3-pointer of the game to put Kilsyth up 73-72 midway through the fourth quarter, but it would be their last lead of the game, as the Cobras made just one of their last 10 baskets.

While they struggled mightily in the paint against Dandenong the night prior, this time it was their perimeter defence that faltered. Abby Wehrung scored a career-high 30 points, while Cumming, the league’s leading scorer, added 26.

The Lady Cobras disastrous weekend drops them to 14-8 and drops them to fourth in the South Conference. They will travel to Bendigo to take on the Braves this Saturday night, desperately needing a win if they hope to have a first round home final.

NOTES: Moult’s six 3-pointers tied a season high…she now has 60 3-point makes on the season…Tomlinson’s set a new season high in points for the second consecutive game…her 16 rebounds also tied her seasons best mark…Parsons’ streak of six consecutive games with a made 3-pointer was snapped.