Undermanned due to the under-20 national championships, the Tornadoes held their own most of the game against a young and hungry Wildcats team. The two sides went back-and-forth in the opening minutes, with Torns' Teyla Evans getting a tad too aggressive on the rebound, nabbing a pair of fouls.

Captain Keely Froling (23 points, 14 rebounds) kept her team in the game, scoring the Torns' first eight points before teammate Mariah Payne joined the fray.

Eltham continued to benefit from fouls (5-1 in the first) to build a sizeable lead, with Launceston having trouble drawing their own on the other end.

A three-pointer from North-West addition Charli Kay gave the home team something to build off, back-up by a Payne layup.

The latter continued to find ways to score for the Torns no matter the traffic or distance; Payne finished with 18 points.

The tight contest somehow got even tighter in the second, with Launceston able to batten down the foul hatches and play a disciplined brand of basketball.

Evans got off the foul board and on the scoring board, draining a three from a substantial distance to give her team the lead.

From there, Froling and Payne managed to build on their already dominant play to see the Torns to an eight-point first half lead.

But the Wildcats weren't out of the contest just yet, outscoring the Torns in the third and coming within arms reach early in the final term.

Both teams had trouble finding the rim in the fourth quarter, with no points being scored for nearly five minutes.

The Wildcats got the memo and went on a scoring rampage in the final minutes led by a collection of free throws. The Torns only managed six points in the fourth which led to the team's first home loss.