The Lightning return to UniSC Arena after last weekend’s impressive win over the Adelaide Thunderbirds in South Australia.
Queensland meanwhile travel for the Round 14 clash aiming to join their state rivals on five wins for the 2023 season.
LAST TIME WE MET
A fast start by the Lightning was enough for the visitors to secure the Queensland Cup at Nissan Arena in Round 2, with a 65-55 win over the Firebirds.
Down by 18 points at halftime, the Firebirds threw on Macy Gardner and Emily Moore for the second half with Gardner in particular helping to ensure Queensland finished the match the stronger team but unable to claw back the big deficit.
Former Lightning defender Ash Unie also made her Firebirds debut in the match.
TEAM NEWS
Both teams remain unchanged from last weekend’s action with Leesa Mi Mi continuing as a replacement player for the Firebirds in place of Macy Gardner.
Queensland product Ava Black is part of the Lightning squad which also includes former Firebirds training partners Charlie Bell and Ash Ervin.
KEY MATCHUP – Donnell Wallam v Ash Ervin
Ex-Firebirds training partner Ervin has started the past two matches for the Lightning, facing off against West Coast Fever superstar Jhaniele Fowler and Thundebird English import Eleanor Cardwell.
The 20-year-old held her own against both players and faces another big challenge this weekend against in-form Firebirds shooter Donnell Wallam.
Wallam has 626 goals to be second on the league standings behind Fowler and is also second in the league for offensive rebounds (39), in an impressive second season with the Firebirds.
KEY STAT
The ‘R and R’ defensive pairing of Remi Kamo and Ruby Bakewell-Doran has gone from strength to strength across the 2023 campaign, with the duo combining for a total of 37 defensive rebounds and 47 intercepts. Firebirds coach Bec Bulley will be hoping for another standout display at the back against the Lightning’s Diamonds attack pairing of Steph Wood and Cara Koenen.
LAST WORD
“The last four rounds we’ve been kind of building towards our grand final and that leaves us to play the Sunshine Coast on the weekend so we want to put out our best performance of the year and finish the year off on a high,” – Firebirds captain Kim Ravaillion.
HOW TO WATCH
Sunday’s game is available to watch for free via Kayo Freebies.
