Shining Form For Hopeful Snell

The Age

Wednesday August 27, 2003

Stephen Howell

Opals hopeful Belinda Snell's hot hand helped Australia to a 73-65 win over Serbia and Montenegro in Patras, Greece, yesterday, Melbourne time.

Snell, a Victorian who plays with Sydney Flames, hit six of eight three-point attempts in top-scoring with 22 points.

Players such as guard-forward Snell and forward Natalie Porter (Townsville Fire), who had 17 points in the previous day's 60-51 win over Greece, are getting their chance on the European tour while established Opals Lauren Jackson, Penny Taylor and Kristi Harrower finish American professional commitments.

Complementing Snell's work against the Serbs were young centre Suzy Batkovic (10 points, 11 rebounds) and veteran forwards Rachael Sporn (15 points) and Trisha Fallon (14).

The Opals, preparing for their Olympic qualifying tournament against New Zealand next month, will play Hungary today and Greece tomorrow before going to Belgium and France.

Coach Jan Stirling has given Jackson, Taylor and Harrower a break from the series against the Tall Ferns in Tasmania on September 12-13.

The Women's National Basketball Association's home-and-away season finished on Monday, Jackson scoring 18 points and grabbing nine rebounds as Seattle Storm beat Sacramento Monarchs 70-57. But, the Storm missed the play-offs, making it difficult for Jackson to be chosen most valuable player in the league - since the WNBA began in 1997 the winner has been from a finals team.

Jackson, the league's leading scorer with 21.2 points a game, was a strong favourite until Seattle's form nosedived with injury problems and it fell from second to fifth in the Western Conference.

Interestingly, the other top MVP pick, Tamika Catchings, also failed to get her team, Indiana Fever, to the finals. This throws the award into confusion and suggestions are that Detroit Shock's Swin Cash, the best player in the best team, could top the poll - votes are cast by about 50 members of the media who report on the league.

Taylor and Harrower will play in the finals. Taylor had 16 points and six rebounds as Cleveland Rockers beat Charlotte Sting 75-66 to finish fourth in the Eastern Conference. They will face the Shock in the first round.

Harrower's Minnesota Lynx finished fourth in the West and will play conference winner Los Angeles Sparks.

Final ladders - East: Detroit 25-9, Charlotte 18-16, Connecticut 18-16, Cleveland 17-17; Indiana 16-18, New York 16-18, Washington 9-25. West: Los Angeles 24-10, Houston 20-14, Sacramento 19-15, Minnesota 18-16; Seattle 18-16, San Antonio 12-22, Phoenix 8-26.

In the Women's National Basketball League, Melbourne-based Opals forward Michelle Brogan will be a fly-in player with her old team Adelaide Lightning for the season starting on October 3. Opal Jo Hill, after several European seasons, will strengthen the champions, Canberra Capitals.

© 2003 The Age

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