The Viera Hawks will be playing at home against the Melbourne Bulldogs at 6:00 p.m. on Monday. Viera will be strutting in after a win while the Bulldogs will be coming in after a defeat.
You can't lose the contest if you win every quarter, and that was precisely Viera's strategy against the Mustangs on Friday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Viera blew the Mustangs out of the water with a 84-28 final score. The victory was just what Viera needed coming off of a 71-34 defeat in their prior game.
Viera can attribute much of their success to Lauren Bell, who scored 23 points along with two steals, and Phantasia Lauriston, who scored 26 points along with seven rebounds and six steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Lauriston has scored all season. Yasmin Croom was another key contributor, scoring 13 points along with four steals.
Meanwhile, Melbourne's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Friday after their fourth straight defeat. They fell 47-36 to East River. Melbourne has struggled against the Falcons recently, as their contest on Friday was their fourth consecutive lost matchup.
Despite the loss, Melbourne saw an underclassman step up: Cecelia Nardone scored 16 points along with three steals. Nardone has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last five times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Addyson Turba, who scored six points along with 12 rebounds and five steals.
Viera's victory ended a five-game drought at home and bumped them up to 10-13. As for Melbourne, they have been struggling recently as they've lost six of their last eight matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 8-16 record this season.
Everything came up roses for Viera against the Bulldogs in their previous matchup back in January as the squad secured a 84-18 victory. With Viera ahead 55-11 at the half, the game was all but over already.
