Perth Lynx beat Townsville Fire in WNBL semi final as Aari McDonald and Amy Atwell dominate

Perth Lynx have stunned minor premiers Townsville with a brilliant semi-final victory on the road and are now just one win away from their second grand final in three years. The Lynx won 88-87 to end a nine-game losing streak against the Fire and set up a massive home game on Sunday. If they win at the Bendat Basketball Centre, they’ll jump into a grand final from fourth. In a high scoring and free flowing contest at the Townsville Entertainment Centre, the Fire scored 51 points in the first half to open up a seven-point advantage at the main break. But the Lynx quickly hit back and took the lead just two-and-a-half minutes into the third quarter. From there, they put the foot down and burst clear by 11 points. Townville refused to be denied and stormed back to take the lead in the final term, but Perth hit key shots to claim the win. The Lynx have had a tough season, starting brilliantly and then almost missing the finals due to injury. But they are returning home full of confidence. “I’m so happy. This was a huge win for us. This is a tough court. It is a hostile environment,” import Aari McDonald said. “It shows we are tough. It shows we resilient. We started great and then went through lulls. But we are a tough group. We stay together when things get hard.” McDonald starred with 26 points and nine assists. Amy Atwell scored 24 points and Emily Potter had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Sami Whitcomb led the way for Townsville with 24 points and seven rebounds. Perth did it the hard way after some key turnovers almost cost them victory and they also repeatedly missed free throws in the final quarter. But they refused to be denied. “There’s some areas we need to clean up. We tried to give that game away at times,” McDonald said. “But I really like where we are headed. We know this isn’t over but now we get to play in front of our great home crowd. We will have tunnel vision now and head out there to get this win.”