West Coast Fever star Jhaniele Fowler sinks after-the-whistle shot to beat Giants in Super Netball thriller

West Coast Fever star Jhaniele Fowler produced a clutch shot after the final whistle to keep the WA team’s unbeaten run alive with a heart-stopping 66-65 win at RAC Arena tonight.

After trailing for much of the night, Fever midcourter Jess Anstiss threw a long ball to Fowler, who despite being double-teamed by defenders Kristiana Manu’a and Sam Poolman, won the penalty before slotting the goal to send the home crowd into raptures.

Fever got the chance to win the match after Giants star shooter Jo Harten made a rare mistake when she was called for a held ball with just eight seconds left in the game.

The Fever then rushed the ball down court to grab a fifth-straight win to start the season, leaving them the only unbeaten side in the league and in the top four for the first time in 2021.

“Full credit to Giants, the way they were able to slow our game down. I think they were really methodical with how they played the ball obviously,” coach Stacey Marinkovich said.

“I just thought we were slow to get going today, not just the first quarter, but getting momentum through the game. It was a bit stop, start.

“I think it was great to see when it counts our girls played really good unit defence and I thought we played safe with the ball when we needed to stick it in the hands.”

It was a tough start for Fever, who were on the backfoot early, with the Giants enjoying their new-found freedom after being locked in their hotel since arriving on Thursday.

This meant for a fourth-consecutive week Fever conceded a quarter-time lead, as the Giants came out firing on the back of poor mistakes in attack.

Out-of-confidence goal attack Alice Teague-Neeld was the main offender, coughing up three turnovers and missing both her shots in the first 12 minutes.

She was soon replaced by Sasha Glasgow, who instantly had an impact, hitting a super shot as the Fever looked to fight back from an early six-goal deficit.

Fever began to claw their way back into the contest in the second term and as the scores tightened, the intensity and physicality went to another level.

The Giants would push out again in the final five minutes of the half, scoring 10 of the final 14 goals including three super shots to push out to an eight-goal lead.

Fever were being sucked into the Giants’ physicality, with Harten and centre Jamie-Lee Price getting under the skin and putting Fever players on the court for much of the game.

Fowler was at her usual best in attack, converting 55 goals from 56 attempts, while also holding a number of great takes.

The WA-side scored seven of the last 10 goals, with Price forced to the bench with an ankle injury, giving Fever the edge in the middle of the court.

Fever captain Courtney Bruce’s battle with Giants shooter Harten (37 goals) was both physical and technically masterful, with Bruce recording six gains, three deflections and four intercepts, while the English international was a massive presence in attack.

But Bruce had the last laugh, with Harten missing three-consecutive shots in the last term as well as making the final mistake to hand Fever the victory.