Richmond captain Katie Brennan has continued her amazing goal-scoring run, as the Tigers snapped a five-match losing streak with a 23-point win over West Coast.
In other results, Carlton restricted St Kilda to just two behinds in its 46-point win, while Adelaide thrashed GWS by 40 points.
In Perth, the Tigers booted four unanswered goals in the opening term to set up the 10.8 (68) to 7.3 (45) triumph in stifling heat.
Brennan finished with 2.1 from 15 disposals, marking her 13th consecutive match that she has scored at least one goal.
Midfielder Monique Conti (24 disposals, nine tackles and one goal) and forward Tayla Stahl (three goals) were also crucial in helping lift Richmond to its first win since its 38-point flogging of St Kilda in round one.
Ellie McKenzie tallied 19 disposals and a goal in her third match back from a calf injury.
West Coast skipper Emma Swanson was heroic with 22 disposals and two goals, while Dana Hooker (24 disposals) also battled valiantly.
Eagles forward Aimee Schmidt booted two late goals to finish with three for the match.
The temperature was still hovering at around 35 degrees Celsius at the 4:10pm WST bounce down and it was Richmond who produced the sizzling moments in the opening term.
The Tigers’ dominance in the air proved crucial, with the marking stat reading 17-4 in favour of the visitors as they slammed through 4.2 to 0.0.
Stahl had booted just a single behind from her past three matches, but she bounced back strongly with two early goals to set the tone.
West Coast responded early in the second quarter with goals to Swanson and Schmidt, but the Tigers regained control to head into half-time with a 27-point lead.
The Eagles kept pace in the second half, but the damage they copped in the first quarter proved too much to overcome.
Saints humbled by Blues
Winless St Kilda produced the equal-lowest score in AFLW history, failing to kick a goal in its heavy defeat to Carlton.
The understrength Saints started brightly, with Jessica Matin hitting the post from a set shot in the opening stages.
But it was as close as the visitors got to a goal in the 7.6 (48) to 0.2 (2) defeat at Princes Park.
St Kilda’s final score was equal to the record-low tally posted by Gold Coast against Brisbane last year.
It was the Saints’ sixth defeat in as many matches under new coach Nick Dal Santo this season and a disappointing return after they went within a kick of beating both West Coast and Brisbane in the previous two rounds.
Carlton was dominant in the first half, piling on five unanswered goals to surpass its previous highest score of the season before reaching the main break.
Both sides went scoreless during the third quarter but the damage had already been done.
Blues coach Daniel Harford got his wish for a four-quarter effort from his players, who pulled away in the final term to snap a four-match losing streak.
Darcy Vescio and Breann Moody kicked two goals each, as Madison Prespakis (20 disposals), Georgia Gee (20) and Mimi Hill (18) racked up touches at will.
Vaomua Laloifi and Gabriella Pound impressed in a Carlton defence that gave little away throughout the match.
Tilly Lucas-Rodd (24 disposals and nine tackles) worked tirelessly for the outclassed Saints, with teammates Catherine Phillips (22 disposals) and Bianca Jakobsson (17) winning plenty of the ball.
Crows hammer Giants
The Crows had recorded a shock one-point defeat to the Western Bulldogs in round six but were never seriously challenged by the Giants in a 5.15 (45) to 0.5 (5) victory at Sydney’s Henson Park.
The margin was great enough to lift the premiership favourites back to the top of the ladder on percentage above Fremantle, with both sides boasting 6-1 records.
Ebony Marinoff gathered 22 disposals to become the first AFLW player to surpass 1,000 career possessions.
Not a noted goal kicker, Marinoff finished off some teammates’ hard work with a major in the final quarter to put the icing on the cake as the winning margin blew out.
She also registered a match-high 16 tackles, double the tally of teammate Teah Charlton, who was the next most prolific tackler on the ground.
Anne Hatchard (24 disposals) and Eloise Jones (20) also starred for Adelaide, while league-leading goal kicker Ashleigh Woodland kicked two second-half majors.
It took Woodland’s tally to 14 for the year, just two shy of the single-season record.
Saturday’s match was the first of three in eight days for the Giants as they play catch-up after a raft of COVID-19 cases in their squad forced an earlier match to be rescheduled.
AAP/ABC
Source: AFL NEWS ABC
