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AS a preseason WNBL championship favourite, Sydney had no sooner given its worst performance in a decade in Perth against the Lynx before Southside stepped up with a "hold my beer," only to have Melbourne say, "No, hold mine" as Canberra broke through for its first win. Round 7 was quite the round, Jade Melbourne the stand-out.

The Canberra dynamo's 30-point, 10-assist double and two solid road performances from Adelaide's Izzy Borlase left no WNBL watcher in any doubt the future is in safe hands.

But what of the now?

Sydney and Melbourne both crashed twice and that tired old line about "anyone can beat anyone on any given night" became the absolute truth of Season 2023-24. 

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JUST how important is Tess Madgen to the Sydney Flames?

She missed the Flames' 71-85 loss to open the season in Perth and again was a withdrawal this time with a knee injury.

With the season-series on the line, the Lynx absolutely ran riot over the Flames, Amy Atwell leading the avalanche with a 15-point first period which included four 3-point baskets.

Alex Ciabattoni struck a triple as well, Perth ahead 23-19 after one, then blowing apart the game with a 29-14 second period in which Anneli Maley also shone while Miela Goodchild swished two 3-pointers and Mackenzie Clinch-Hoycard another.

Perth was ahead 49-33 and superstar import Aari McDonald had yet to score! But that changed 12 seconds from halftime when she buried a long-range missile from the top of the key, the Lynx going into the interval ahead 52-33.

She nailed a second threeball within the first 40 seconds of the second half, following a Goodchild bucket which blew the buffer out to 57-33 and Sydney was completely cooked.

A preseason title favourite, the Flames only further wilted, outscored 26-8 in the third as coach Guy Molloy cleared his bench, only Ahlise Hurst (13 points, four 3-pointers) offering consistent resistance. 

PERTH LYNX 98 (Atwell 21, Goodchild 18, Clinch-Hoycard 15, Maley 11, Ciabattoni 10; Maley 15 rebs; McDonald 5 assts) d SYDNEY FLAMES 58 (Hurst, George 13, Richards 10; George 13 rebs; Rowe 4 assts) at Bendat Basketball Stadium. Crowd: 913

A 12-1 start by Townsville before Bec Cole hit the Flyers' first field goal barely caused the Fire a ripple of attention, motoring on to 19-3.

The dream start evolved into an all-the-way belting which tied the season-series at 1-1 but left no doubt which is the better team.

Townsville backed up its 31-15 first period with a 29-21 second to be a whopping 60-36 ahead at halftime.

The Flyers' latest Opals squad members Maddi Rocci (5 points on 2-of-3 shooting, 6 turnovers) and Lauren Jackson (2 points on 1-of-6 shooting) offered token resistance, squad omission Bec Cole pairing 16 points with a career-best 10 assists, imports Mercedes Russell (20 points, 8-of-11) and Jasmine Dickey (20 points, 7-of-11) carrying the offence.

But they were carrying it against a team fully on the run and loving life, the Fire's 29-19 third quarter smashing this out to 89-55 with a period to play.

Paced by Sami Whitcomb (21 points at 57 per cent, 6 defensive rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals), Steph Reid (22 points at 56 per cent, 6 assists) and Zitina Aokuso (8 points, 4-of-4 shooting), Townsville's Opals squad selections shone as brightly as should be expected in a grand final rematch in the opponent's building.

Adding 15 points at 63 per cent with four boards, four assists, a steal and a block, Mikaela Ruef also enjoyed a night out, Cassandra Brown sticking 2-of-2 threes in her 10-point contribution.

Southside had no answers as Townsville made more than a passing statement of where it sits this season. 

TOWNSVILLE FIRE 105 (Reid 22, Whitcomb 21, Ruef, Woods 15, Brown 10; Whitcomb 6 rebs; Reid 6 assts) d SOUTHSIDE FLYERS 77 (Russell, Dickey 20, Cole 16; Ernst, Cole, Russell 4 rebs; Cole 10 assts) at State Basketball Centre. Crowd: 1,453

JADE Melbourne sank Melbourne and led her Canberra Capitals to their breakthrough first win of the season with a dynamic 30-point, 10-assists double-double, any hope the Boomers had of recovering diminished by the loss of star guard Jordin Canada in the second quarter and the local officiating over the four quarters. 

After a tight start in which Naz Hillmon was prominent, Jade Melbourne pushed Canberra into the lead ahead of quarter-time and despite Tera Reed opening the second quarter with a corner three to bring the Boomers to 19-20, they would never taste the lead.

In fact with Alex Sharp (12 points, 13 rebounds) and Alex Fowler (18 points at 71 per cent, 6 rebounds) joining the party, the Caps swept to 33-23 before Sara Blicavs and Keely Froling led a brief Boomers rally to drag the deficit back to six.

Consecutive Gemma Potter 3-pointers sent the lead busting back to 12 at 42-30 and it was only an offensive purple patch by Monique Conti that kept Melbourne in the game, down 37-46 at the half.

In truth though, Melbourne looked in trouble from the moment it lost import Jordin Canada 4:51 out from halftime after a severe head clash with Jade Melbourne. Naturally an offensive foul was called on Canada but she took no further part in the match, her head bleeding and needing to be patched up as she sat disconsolate on the Boomers bench. 

Canberra would not be denied, its lead out to 53-39 as the Boomers searched for offensive answers while dealing with a couple of technical fouls along the way, borne of their growing frustrations.

Fowler stuck 11 of her 18 points in the last quarter as the margin inflated, Jade Melbourne's mid-term monster 3-pointer breaking the Boomers' resistance and leaving no doubt Canberra's winning drought was at an end.  

UNI of CANBERRA CAPITALS 84 (Melbourne 30, Fowler 18, Sharp 12; Sharp 13 rebs; Melbourne 10 assts) d MELBOURNE BOOMERS 72 (Hillmon 14, Froling 12, Rocci 11, Conti 10; Hillmon 12 rebs; Canada 5 assts) at Southern Cross Stadium. Crowd: 1,212 

NOT even a season-high seven 3-pointers by Adelaide captain Lauren Mansfield - from only 11 attempts in a season-best 28-point game - could get Lightning across the line against Bendigo in Geelong in a genuine thriller.

Mansfield, taken out of the starting five last round reacted to her reinstatement in the most positive manner, her seventh triple bringing Adelaide to 58-61 early in a last quarter in which she already had knocked down two free throws and seen Izzy Borlase go coast-to-coast after a defensive board.

Izzy Bourne kept Lightning alive but when Ally Wilson sank a threeball for 73-66, this looked done.

Far from it!

Bourne (career-high 25 points) again dragged the deficit back to 68-73 but Mehryn Kraker (20 points at 50 per cent, five assists, five rebounds, two steals) ensured Bendigo would retain the edge coming right down into crunch time.

Up 76-70 on a Kelsey Griffin free throw and 2:38 on the clock, Bendigo still had to deal with free throws by Jocelyn Willoughby trimming it to four, then Adelaide running a sweet play Tayla Brazel scored on for 74-76, 53 seconds to go.

The "old firm" then took the Spirit to 78-74 when Kelly Wilson fed a nice backdoor cut by Griffin, but a three-point play from the irrepressible Mansfield meant it was 77-78, a click over 30 seconds to go.

Kraker's 3-pointer then finally sealed it for Bendigo, Lightning desperately unlucky once again.

BENDIGO SPIRIT 81 (Kraker 20, Froling, A.Wilson 15, Griffin, Samuels 10; Griffin 8 rebs; Kraker 5 assts) d ADELAIDE LIGHTNING 77 (Mansfield 28, Bourne 25, Borlase 8; Turner 11 rebs; Turner 4 assts) at Geelong Arena. Crowd: 450

BACKING up after their disaster in Perth, the Flames were thoroughly flipped by the fury of the Fire, Townsville containing Sydney to 9 first quarter points, 11 in the second for an abysmal 20-point first half.

Only Townsville's 38 per cent shooting and 17 turnovers prevented this from being an even more humiliating burial than the 70-48 debacle Sydney offered in resistance to the defending champions.

Lauren Nicholson battled gamely against her championship teammates to lead the Flames' scoring with a paltry 11 points. But she also led the Flames in turnovers with an equal-game-high five.

If Sydney's 20-point first half was not bad enough, its 28-point second was similarly miserable as the continued injury-forced absence of Opals captain Tess Madgen revealed just how vulnerable these Flames are to a good old fashioned dousing.

Courtney Woods led Townsville with 19 points, seven rebounds, five assists and a block but Sami Whitcomb wasn't far behind with four 3-pointers in her 18 points, plus seven rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks.

Mikaela Ruef's routine double-double paired 15 rebounds with 11 points, Steph Reid also her usual feisty self, giving the Flames hell.

TOWNSVILLE FIRE 70 (Woods 19, Whitcomb 18, Reid, Ruef 11; Ruef 15 rebs; Woods 5 assts) d SYDNEY FLAMES 48 (Nicholson 11, Clarke 8, Bradley 7; George 9 rebs; Nicholson 5 assts) at Quaycentre. Crowd: 1,326

SARA Blicavs opened in aggressive mode for Melbourne, the Boomers battling to overcome the absence of key import playmaker Jordin Canada (concussion protocols) but ultimately unable to hold back Adelaide, Izzy Borlase leading the assault.

Borlase combined 21 points and a career-high 12 rebounds as Lightning contained Melbourne to a meagre eight points - Blicavs with two 3-pointers scoring six of them - in the last quarter.

Melbourne looked to have Adelaide on the ropes and gasping as it sped away to lead 34-23 midway through the second quarter on good play from Aimie Rocci and Naz Hillmon.

But Izzy Bourne, Jocelyn Willoughby and Brianna Turner with a layup brought Adelaide scurrying back, Blicavs restoring a double figure lead at 37-27 with 4:10 left in the half.

Lightning then peeled off 11 straight points, Borlase with seven of them, to take a surprise 38-37 lead into the break.

Hillmon had 10 of her 12 points in the third as she became Melbourne's only consistent scoring avenue, Adelaide further tightening its defensive screws in a last quarter where it gave up just three baskets.

Lauren Mansfield, who had 7-of-11 threes against Bendigo but was 0-of-6 against Melbourne, still dished eight assists, her pass to Tayla Brazel for a triple and 62-56 buffer just two minutes from time effectively ending this.

There still was time for some incredibly poor offensive decision-making by the Boomers and for Adelaide to revel in a hard-won success.

ADELAIDE LIGHTNING 68 (Borlase 21, Bourne 15, Willoughby 12; Turner 14 rebs; Mansfield 8 assts ) d MELBOURNE BOOMERS 59 (Blicavs 21, Hillmon 12, Conti 8; Blicavs, Froling 10 rebs; Conti, Blicavs 4 assts) at Melbourne Sports Centre. Crowd:  2,256

SMACKED last round by Southside in Melbourne, Bendigo showed its true spirit at home, Ally Wilson opening this return bout with a 3-pointer as she and Bec Cole went to work.

Cole (24 points at 78 per cent) had Southside's first four and Wilson (7 points at 22 per cent) had Bendigo's first five before anyone else became involved, the Spirit holding sway to lead 19-14 after one, Cole with eight points.

The second period was Maddi Rocci's turn to shine, scoring 10 of her 24 as the Flyers pulled ahead 26-24, igniting a spirited 10-0 response in which Mehryn Kraker was prominent.

Cole, Leilani Mitchell and Rocci then conspired in a 13-3 reaction to put Southside up 39-37 at halftime.

Nothing separated the teams through the third and in the last, tied 62-62, Southside produced a 10-1 run to give itself the breathing space required to keep Bendigo at arm's length the rest of the way.

SOUTHSIDE FLYERS 91 (Cole, Rocci 24, Mitchell 14; Jackson 10 rebs; Rocci 7 assts) d BENDIGO SPIRIT 81 (Kraker 20, Griffin 18, Wehrung 15, Froling 11; Davis, Froling, Kraker 5 rebs; K.Wilson 6 assts) at Bendigo Stadium. Crowd: 599