Launceston Tornadoes get second win of the NBL1 season in tough encounter with Waverley Falcons

That was certainly not the sort of away win to Waverley Falcons that animated coach Derrick Washington would have watched too calmly less than 24 hours since a heavy loss to Bendigo Braves.

The Tornadoes got out to a 11-point lead late in the third quarter, but were made to earn their 92-88 victory in the dying minutes to cling onto a 2-3 season record.

"The beauty of this team is we're getting better every game," Washington said.

"The players are learning, the players are growing and they're buying into what I want to do, both on the floor offensively and defensively.

"I'm a happy coach right now; I think we have a very promising future this year."

Stephanie Gardner and Bec Abel both brought out their big games. The captain scored a game-high 25 points including eight of the final 10 points to guide the visitors home. Gardner had shot four straight from the free throw line in the final 53 seconds.

Abel was on fire from outside the paint, dropping six three-pointers at 60 per cent for a Torns' career-high 25.

The most telling factors were scoring 33 points from free throws at 82.5 per cent and another 22 off turnovers.

"The goal was to capitalise off the turnovers, which we didn't do at Bendigo and we were able to attack the basket and draw fouls too," he said.

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