Queensland Firebirds coach Megan Anderson said she was pleased with her side’s performance on Tuesday night, despite losing to West Coast Fever by 10 goals.
Following a testing week for the Firebirds, they went head-to-head with the Fever at Nissan Arena, with both sides knowing a win would almost secure a finals berth.
The Firebirds delivered a strong showing though couldn’t match it with last year’s grand finalist who secured a 79-69 victory.
“I think everyone showed some great heart tonight and we have had lots thrown at us in the last week and that was another good fight from us,” an extremely positive Anderson said post-match.
“We did lots of good things and we executed what we wanted to execute.
“Fever are obviously a really hard team to beat and I think we put ourselves in with a chance multiple times throughout the game and then just gave them little runs leading into the quarter breaks.
“So there’s definitely positive signs and we have to keep upbeat because we have a game in two days’ time and if we drop our heads then we will keep going downhill for that game.”
Anderson highlighted two key areas in which the Firebirds impressed her on Tuesday night.
The Firebirds face a challenging two-day turnaround before hosting the Magpies at Nissan Arena, a game in which the two teams will celebrate as Pride in Sport.
“We’ve been working on our turnover conversion and that was at 80 per cent which was probably our highest for the year, and definitely against a team like Fever you need that to be high,” she said.
“And our turnovers, so our possession losses, were fairly low for us compared to probably the first half of the season so that was another good stat.
“We’ve just got to focus on the good stuff and build from here.”
The Queensland Firebirds can confirm midcourt player Jemma Mi Mi will likely have scans on Wednesday, after injuring her leg in the loss to the Fever.
