North Spotlight | Woods, Flames hand Dolphins first loss

Courtney Woods nearly had another triple double with 28 points and Chailee Ward landed six three-pointers as the Townsville Flames handed the Cairns Dolphins a first loss of the NBL1 North season with the 91-69 home victory.

The Flames played host to the Dolphins at Carmichael Ford Stadium trying to bounce back from a loss to the North Gold Coast Seahawks while Cairns arrived having won their opening nine matches of the 2026 season.

The Dolphins had already beaten the Flames by 32 points at home to open the season too but this was a different Townsville outfit with Woods having 13 points in the opening quarter for them to open up a six-point lead by quarter-time.

That grew to 19 by half-time and then Townsville delivered 23 points to 16 in the final term on the way to the 22-point win to improve to a 7-4 record and consolidate a playoff spot while Cairns are now 9-1 following a first loss of 2026.

>> NORTH WRAP | WOMEN'S ROUND 9

>> HARD WORK BEHIND ANY SUCCESS DOVE HAS FOUND

It was a statement win from Townsville against their Far North Queensland rivals to improve to a 7-4 record and consolidate a playoff position with them ending up shooting 16/42 from three-point territory which was the major difference between the teams.

Courtney Woods set the tone with 24 points in the first half and ended the night with 28 to go with nine rebounds, nine assists and two steals with 10/17 shooting from the field, 4/9 from downtown and 4/5 at the foul line.

Chailee Ward added 22 points, eight rebounds, six assists, five steals and two blocks with 6/11 three-point shooting with Ella Tofaeono contributing 15 points, five boards, three assists and two steals, and Mia Murray eight points with another couple of three-point makes.

It's a first loss of the season for Cairns after those nine wins to open 2026 with an average winning margin of 19.5 points and they ended up only shooting 43 per cent from the field with just 11 free-throw attempts and having 21 turnovers.

Mia Loyd did finish with another 18 points, 10 rebounds, four steals and two assists for the Dolphins with Leichan Williams contributing 13 points, three boards and two blocks, Summah Evans 11 points, three rebounds and two assists, and Taryn Bond nine points and four assists.

Townsville were back on their home court trying to bounce back with a win to stay in the top six but it was always against to be a big ask against the undefeated Dolphins even without Brooke Basham.

The Flames made a fast start with 13 points from Courtney Woods showing the way for the home team to be leading 23-17 by quarter-time on the back of shooting 8/16 from the field to the 6/17 from Cairns who also had six turnovers.

It was then another 31 points to 18 in the second period from Townsville on the back of shooting 12/17 from the field including going 7/11 from downtown with Woods adding another 11 points to have 24 already by half-time.

Mia Loyd had 12 points for Cairns but they were only shooting 13/31 from the floor while having 12 turnovers for Townsville to be on top 54-35.

The Dolphins did outscore the Flames 18 to 14 in the third quarter but Townsville were still leading by 15 at three quarter-time, and then that lead blew out to 29 in the final term before they secured the eventual 22-point victory to hand Cairns a first loss of 2026.

Townsville now don't play again until hosting the Ipswich Force next Saturday night while Cairns will complete their road double this weekend on Saturday against the Mackay Meteorettes.

NBL1 NORTH 2026 SEASON | ROUND 10

TOWNSVILLE FLAMES 91 (Woods 28, Ward 22, Tofaeono 15)

CAIRNS DOLPHINS 69 (Loyd 18, Williams 13, Evans 11)