Veteran shooter Romelda Aiken-George had a dominant outing for defending champions Adelaide Thunderbirds who dealt a decisive blow to the ladder leaders, the West Coast Fever, with an emphatic 68-50 thrashing at the Adelaide Entertainment Center.

The 18-goal defeat marks only the second loss of the season for the Fever after 8 rounds of play in the Suncorp Super Netball League.

Aiken-George led the offense scoring a game high 50 goals from 60 attempts while on the defensive end of the court Latanya Wilson compiled four intercepts and nine gains while reigning MVP Shamera Sterling-Humphrey who tallied eight intercept possessions by halftime ended with six rebounds and seven gains.

The Thunderbirds having raced to a 20-15 lead at the end of the first quarter, extended their lead to 15 goals (39-24) at halftime but with a momentum shift, the Fever gradually closed the deficit, bringing the margin down to 10 and giving them a sniff heading into the final quarter (51-41). However they were outscored 17-9 by the reigning premiers who exacted revenge for a narrow 57-56 sixth round defeat to the Fever in Perth on May 18.

For the visitors Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard scored a team-high 39 goals having taken just 40 shots. Kadie-Ann had 3 gains while Shanice Beckford had an inefficient night missing her lone attempt and both super shots.

The Fever despite the defeat remain at the top of the table on 28 points ahead of the Melbourne derby between the second place Vixens and newcomers Mavericks – the team of Shimona Jok – which takes place at John Cain Arena. The Thunderbirds are four points behind in third.