Melbourne Boomers have become the first team to notch eight wins in the WNBL season, staving off a late comeback by the Townsville Fire to triumph 66-59 on the road.
After losing on their home floor to the Fire in round eight, the Boomers handed the north Queenslanders a taste of their own medicine at the Townsville Entertainment Centre on Sunday, edging the hosts.
The Boomers started strongly, exploding to a 25-13 quarter time lead, before allowing the Fire back into the contest, but Eziyoda Magbegor's 20-point night brought the Victorians home.
The power forward added six rebounds, two assists and a block as Lindsay Allen chimed in with 15 points of her own.
"We played them last week, so we knew it was going to be a tough game against them," Magbegor said.
"We didn't take anything for granted and we just had to stick it out for four quarters.
"Townsville are a great opponent so it was a good game tonight."
Fellow WNBL front-runners Perth and Adelaide also scored victories in round nine.
Perth began the round with a gritty 85-78 win over Southside Flyers before backing up two days later to beat the Bendigo Spirit 90-82.
The Spirit were none from two in round nine after going down in the opening game to Sydney at home 83-72, but the Flames' streak ended there, thumped two days later by UC Capitals by 34 points then narrow losers 73-70 against the Southside Flyers.
In other fixtures, Adelaide prevailed over Townsville 73-65 to keep the Fire winless this round, with the Lightning splitting their fixtures after a 80-67 loss to the Capitals on Sunday.
