Written by Aiden Box.
Cover image from Mick Connolly
The Melbourne Tigers made the home crowd at MSAC proud with a 17-point win over Nunawading last Thursday night, highlighted by a triple-double from superstar guard Jade Melbourne.
In her final game before jetting off to the United States to play in the WNBA, Melbourne put the team on her back and really dominated from the outset.
The talented guard set the tempo and ran the offence superbly in the first quarter, opening up the game by scoring or assisting on the first four Tigers buckets, half her point total coming in the first term, setting the Tigers on their way beautifully.
She combined well with Samantha Simons and Nikki Metcalfe, and the home side was hot on offence in the first half, putting up 43 points as the Spectres struggled to find their feet and flow.
The visitors eventually found their groove, but the Melbourne defence was stout, and their effort was top-notch all game long, again led by number five, who played every minute of the contest.
Throughout her insane 40-minute farewell effort, Jade made sure to give the crowd plenty to cheer about, with almost a dozen mind-boggling highlight plays, including some wild assists, tough drives to the bucket and steals, igniting the Tigers break on numerous occasions.
The Spectres were brave and to their credit never gave in but were ultimately unable to stop the surging Melbourne girls, who seemed to have every part of their game in excellent working order.
The hosts won every quarter on their way to a 17-point victory, their second on the young season, behind Jade Melbourne’s huge night.
The Tigers star number five finished with 18 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists, adding three steals to her triple double.
Metcalfe and Simons were also tremendous, finishing with 15 and 23 points respectively as the home side closed out the win 88-71 in front of a healthy MSAC crowd.
Jade Melbourne deservedly won the ANZAC Medal.