Geelong coach Chris Lucas has conceded finals are out of reach for his side, but has dodged questions about his WNBL future after the Venom suffered a crushing 94-52 loss to the Southside Melbourne Flyers.
Southside Melbourne was utterly dominant on Saturday, holding Geelong to the second-lowest number of points in the competition this season, while making bucket after bucket at Victorian State Basketball Centre.
The loss is a huge blow for the cellar-dwelling Geelong (3-13), which is four wins behind its fourth-placed opponents with seven games left.
Having not won since November, the Venom needed to snap their eight-game losing streak, but a sea of errors (18 turnovers, 39 per cent of shots) cruelled their chances.
Lucas’s contract expires at the end of the season, but the veteran coach declined to say if he would stay beyond the campaign.
“If you’re worried about that, you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place, so I’ll just continue to do what I do and look forward to the next game,” he said.
“We’re struggling right now, and have been for a few weeks. It’s been a very, very challenging year, so finals are well out of our reach.”
Lucas also confirmed American import Alissa Pili will miss another couple of weeks after illness ruled her out of their clash against Perth last Sunday.
For the Flyers (7-8), a win moves them one victory clear of the UC Capitals on the ladder.
American Haley Peters was the spark, grabbing 19 points, seven rebounds and two steals to help Southside win the head-to-head match-up, with the Flyers claiming the past two victories in the rivals’ three encounters this season.
Five other players also hit double-digit scores to guarantee the Flyers’ third consecutive victory for the first time since February 2024.
“Games like this always worry me, especially when we’ve already won two in a row,” coach Kristi Harrower said.
“That hot start set us up for the rest of the game, but it was a matter of trying to continue it and not take our foot off the gas, and I thought we were really good at that at times.”
Southside Melbourne held the visitors to just six points, while Peters and Nya Lok guided the hosts to 32 points by quarter-time.
Opal Maddy Rocci piled on the baskets as Geelong continued to cough up the ball in the second quarter, and the Flyers subsequently extended their advantage to 37 points at halftime.
Having scored the least amount of points in a half by any team this season (18), Geelong produced a more spirited second 20 minutes.
But Southside young guns Indiah Bowyer and Manuela Puoch each racked up 10 points to secure the win.
