Towering recruit Jhaniele Fowler has broken a Super Netball record on debut to take the West Coast Fever to a 74-56 victory over the Adelaide Thunderbirds on Sunday.
The 198cm Jamaican netted 66 points, breaking the record for the most goals scored in a Super Netball game.
It was a phenomenal display from Fowler, who missed only two shots in her first game for West Coast since joining the club from the New Zealand competition.
In their season-opener, the Fever dominated in the 18-point triumph, winning every quarter to claim all eight points available under the new scoring system.
The only downside to the emphatic victory for the Fever was concern for wing attack/centre Verity Charles, who came off with an ankle injury in the final term.
West Coast goal attack Natalie Medhurst scored just five goals playing alongside Fowler for the majority of the match, but said the team had a strong focus on effectively feeding into the circle.
"She (Fowler) is going to score a large bulk of the goals and that's why we got her, that's what she does, that's her job and she delivers on that beautifully," she said.
"Our job is to make sure that we supply the ball well, that we're executing our feeds into her to make her job a lot easier."
Down by 12 points at halftime, the Thunderbirds gained momentum when debutant Abigail Latu-Meafou was subbed on in the third quarter and they came back to lose the fourth by just one point.
Thunderbirds shooter Shimona Nelson finished with a 37-goal haul for the home side, while Latu-Meafou netted two goals within her first minute on court in a convincing performance.
Despite the defeat, Adelaide coach Dan Ryan was pleased with his team's performance, especially the work within the goal circle.
"For us to post 56 goals with three 19 and 20-year-old kids in the goal circle, shooting at 86 per cent, and some of the stuff that we did was as good as our opposition," he said after the game.
"I'm really hopeful that some of that can be reproduced again."
