THE Launceston Tornadoes stunned SEABL southern conference ladder-leader Kilsyth to record an 88-76 victory in Melbourne on Sunday.
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The Lady Cobras have been touted as the team to beat in the women’s competition this season, having won eight games straight as a dominant force before their upset loss to the Tornadoes.
The victory gave Tornadoes coach Reece Potter double wins on the road – after their 77-58 defeat of Frankston on Saturday night – and extended their winning run to four matches.
US import Mikaela Ruef was again outstanding, shooting 29 points and having 14 rebounds.
Alex Wilson notched up 21 points and six rebounds, and captain Lauren Mansfield 20 and four.
‘‘It was very rewarding for the girls who have put in a lot of work and I was quietly confident even on Saturday night that the girls were ready to go,’’ Potter said.
‘‘It was great to put four quarters together and beat a really good team.
‘‘Our defence over the past three weeks has been getting better and better and our willingness to put our bodies on the line for each other and stick to our rules is unbelievable, and we’re keeping teams to lower scores than at the start of the year.
‘‘Offensively we are getting better each time and when we stick to our strengths we are a hard team to play against.
‘‘Today was probably our most disciplined performance.’’
Potter praised the game of Ruef, who he said showed she was a WNBL player, with good support from Wilson and Mansfield and everyone else stepping up.
‘‘We had Emma Russell and Ali Partridge in that sort of role of guard against some tough WNBL-level players and really took it to them so across the board it was another great team win and something to build on for sure.’’
The Tornadoes meet bottom side Ballarat at home in Launceston next Saturday and Potter said his players would be keeping a lid on their successful weekend as they regrouped and focused on making it five-straight wins leading into the long weekend break in June.