Month: July 2021

Words By Kirralee Livingstone

USC Thunder narrowly lose 59-55 against the Tigers in a back-and-forth fight to victory, in the Sapphire Series at USC Stadium on Saturday.

In the first quarter USC Thunder started on the back foot, with the Tigers getting a few triple goals.

Although Thunder did lose the first quarter 16-11, in amongst the big points Tigers put on, Thunder was consistent in scoring after every goal or every few goals Tigers scored.

The second quarter looked a lot more hopeful for Thunder, with Chloe Bingham scoring a double for Thunder as her first goals for the quarter.

Thunder then shifted the momentum into their favour scoring five goals in a row, Bingham scoring two doubles and Annie Lawrie, scoring one.

Tigers responded with scoring a bulk of points of their own, however, the end of the quarter ended well for Thunder, scoring a triple between Lawrie and Bingham.

This resulted in Thunder drawing against Tigers for the second quarter points.

The third quarter was very close between the two sides, with both teams getting ahead at certain points of the quarter.

Lawrie scored the first goal for the quarter, and Bingham followed up with an easy triple not long after another goal from Lawrie.

The rest of the quarter was very back and forth, but with a last-minute goal from Bingham and then Lawrie to conclude the quarter, Thunder managed to win the third quarter points by one goal.

It was now crunch time in the final quarter for Thunder, while it still was anyone’s game with such a slim margin and both teams playing excellently.

Bingham scored the first goal and then got a triple after one Tigers goal.

Tigers then started to get ahead before Bingham answered with another triple.

Unfortunately, Thunder just fell short of finding those few extra goals to get ahead of the Tigers and to win the game.

Nonetheless, the girls from USC Thunder put in a massive effort but unfortunately fall back to fourth place on the Sapphire Series ladder.

USC Thunder are set to play eighth placed Mendi Rays at 10am at Townsville Basketball this Sunday.

Q1: Tigers 16-11 USC Thunder

Q2: Tigers 31(15)-26 (15) USC Thunder

Q3: Tigers 46(15)-42 (16) USC Thunder

Q4: Tigers 59(13)-55 (13) USC Thunder

Thunder starting seven: GS- Chloe Bingham, GA- Binnian Hunt, WA- Chanel Dyer, C- Maddie Hinchliffe, WD- Chloe Litherland, GD- Lia Woolnough, GK- Ashlee Barnett

Substitutes: Sienna Allen, Annie Lawrie, Amy Metcalf

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Sapphire Series or its clubs

Words By Kirralee Livingstone

USC Thunder secure a convincing 56-42 win over the Bond Bull Sharks in a pre-final battle last Sunday at Nissan Arena.

The first quarter started slow for Thunder, with the Bull Sharks dominating in the first few minutes.

However, the speed picked up after a double from Annie Lawrie and a triple from Chloe Bingham a few goals later, towards the middle to end of the quarter.

After much back and forth, and another double from Bingham, Thunder and the Bull Sharks ended up tying in the first 15 minutes, the score being 11 all.

The second quarter was also very back and forth between the two competitive sides.

Bingham scored a triple and a double in the second half of the quarter, and most Thunder’s points in the quarter as well, whereas Lawrie’s shooting precision was slightly off in the first half of the game.

This saw a position change in the shooting roles in the second half, with Jacqueline Dupuy taking over for Lawrie in the first few minutes, scoring Thunder’s first two goals of the half.

After a few more goals for both sides Bingham went off to rest, with Lawrie coming on in GS and Dupuy staying in GA.

Lawrie’s accuracy noticeably improved when she came back onto the court, shooting quadruple goals consecutively for the team.

Bingham came back on to play GS following a quick break and scored the last two points for Thunder.

The final quarter of the game really saw Thunder shoot forward in terms of dominating on overall points against the Bull Sharks, with a 17-8 lead.

Thunder goal shooter Bingham scored an impressive three hattricks during the final quarter additionally, which assisted in the skyrocketed final score.

This win has moved USC Thunder back up to third place and will be playing sixth played Tigers this Saturday at USC Stadium.

Q1: USC Thunder 11 – 11 Bond Bull Sharks

Q2: USC Thunder 27 (16) -22 (11) Bond Bull Sharks

Q3: USC Thunder 39 (12) -34 (12) Bond Bull Sharks

Q4: USC Thunder 56 (17) -42 (8) Bond Bull Sharks

Thunder starting seven: GS-Chloe Bingham, GA-Annie Lawrie, WA- Chanel Dyer, C-Monique French, WD-Chloe Litherland, GD-Lia Woolnough, GK-Ashlee Barnett

Substitutes: Sienna Allen, Jacqueline Dupuy, Amy Metcalf

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Sapphire Series or its clubs

Words By Kirralee Livingstone

USC Thunder fall short in a 59-45 challenging contest against the ladder leaders, the Cougars, in the Sapphire series match at Nissan Arena last Saturday.

The first quarter of the game started slow for Thunder, only scoring two points compared to Cougars’ seven goals in the initial few minutes.

Although Chloe Bingham suddenly turned it around and scored a consecutive four goals and ended up getting 7 of her 8 goal attempts, Cougars were victorious, scoring 18 points to Thunder’s 9 points.

In the second quarter Thunder ended up scoring a few more and Cougars scored a few less compared to their first quarter scores.

Annie Lawrie scored a double and Georgia Hernan and Bingham both scored some triples, with Hernan particularly having an impressive shooting rate, getting four out of five attempts during the quarter.

However, Cougars still won the second quarter, and led by a ten-point margin.

Thunder’s momentum slowed once more in the third quarter, only scoring ten points with Cougars scoring 14 points.

Bingham scored five of those ten goals scored in the third quarter, with Hernan and Lawrie assisting with the remaining goals scored.

The fourth quarter saw USC Thunder fight to win the final quarter if an overall game win was out of reach, to secure some competition points.

To start the quarter, goals were back and forth between the Cougars, and Hernan and Bingham, with Bingham getting a helpful double pointer to rise the quarters score for Thunder.

Ashlee Barnett made two exhilarating intercepts in the first five minutes to assist the shooters in scoring additional goals to gain a lead.

Cougars got two triples in a matter of minutes to try and catch up, however Thunder were too resilient for them, with Bingham getting another double and Hernan getting a few goals as well.

In the dying minutes, it seemed the Cougars were going to secure a win in the last quarter, however Thunder turned it over, allowing Bingham to stop their hopes in their tracks.

Thunder won the last quarter by just one point, but sadly lost the game by 14 points.

After a tough loss, USC Thunder remain level at fourth place on the ladder and are set to play the fifth placed Bond Bull Sharks this Sunday at Nissan Arena.

Q1: USC Thunder 9 – 18 Cougars

Q2: USC Thunder 22 (13) –33 (15) Cougars

Q3: USC Thunder 32 (10) –47 (14) Cougars

Q4: USC Thunder 45 (13) –59 (12) Cougars

Thunder starting seven: GS-Chloe Bingham, GA-Annie Lawrie, WA- Chanel Dyer, C-Monique French, WD-Amy Metcalf, GD-Ashlee Barnett, GK-Sienna Allen

Substitutes: Georgia Hernan, Lily Mcclure and Chloe Litherland

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Sapphire Series or its clubs