Nicole Munger can now call herself an NBL1 East championship winner and Grand Final MVP on top her second NBL1 East MVP trophy in 2024 after the Newcastle Falcons scored the last 11 points to beat the Sutherland Sharks 85-78.
Grand Final day at Penrith Valley Regional Sports Centre got underway on Saturday with the women's decider which was a match up three years in the making in a lot of ways after COVID back in 2021 forced the two teams to share the championship.
They both took different paths to the Grand Final on Saturday with Newcastle finishing the regular season in fourth spot before handing the Albury-Wodonga Bandits their first loss of 2024, and locking in their spot with last week's win over the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles.
Sutherland finished the season in fifth place, but once Lauren Nicholson was back in the line-up, they picked up momentum winning their last three matches and then beating the Canberra Nationals and Bandits on the way to the Grand Final.
The fact both teams beat Albury-Wodonga on the way to the Grand Final only added to the contest on top of star-studded teams led by Munger and Nicholson respectively to set the stage.
The Sharks got the better of the start attempting to make up for the 2022 Grand Final loss and they were able to open up a 23-18 lead by the end of the first quarter.
Newcastle were able to take charge in the second period by putting up 30 points to 22 and that saw them go into the half-time break leading 48-45 to set the tone for a fascinating second half with the championship at stake.
The Falcons did threaten to blow open a match-winning advantage in the third quarter getting out to as much as 10 points, but the Sharks weren’t going away and it was back to a one-point ball game by three quarter-time.
Newcastle were again up seven early in the fourth quarter, but Sutherland then made its charge starting with a triple to Vanessa Panousis who was feeling good having settled back in after a late season holiday.
Nicholson then scored twice to bring the Sharks back within two points before it was captain Olivia White putting them back in front with five minutes to play.
Panousis knocked down another three-point bomb to stretch that lead to four shortly after and it was up to Newcastle to respond with the championship at stake.
In the end with just over a minute to play a pair of Nicole Munger free throws had it back to a one-point game and with 45 seconds to go it was Munger hitting the go-ahead bucket.
A steal from Munger on the pass of Nicholson then led to the Falcons superstar making two more free throws and in the end the Falcons delivered the game's last 11 points to go from four down to win by seven and claim the championship.
On the back of winning her second NBL1 East MVP award, Nicole Munger is now a Grand Final MVP as well having delivered 22 points, 17 rebounds, four assists and two steals while playing all but 32 seconds of the game.
She had plenty of help too with Isla Juffermans finishing with 15 points and 14 rebounds with Aarion Nichols contributing 14 points, seven boards, three steals and two assists, and Elissa Brett 10 points and three rebounds.
Hannah Chicken also had nine points and four rebounds, Sophie Brennan eight points, two boards and two assists, and championship winning captain Kate Kingham seven points.
It's a second loss for Sutherland in a Grand Final in the past three seasons despite the best efforts of Lauren Nicholson who finished with 33 points, 10 rebounds and five assists on 13/23 shooting while playing all 40 minutes.
Vanessa Panousis added 15 points and two rebounds, Olivia White 12 points, 14 boards, three assists and two steals, and Emily Garland eight points and three boards.
NEWCASTLE FALCONS 85 (Munger 22, Juffermans 15, Nichols 14)
SUTHERLAND SHARKS 78 (Nicholson 33, Panousis 15, White 12)
Grand Final MVP: Nicole Munger (Newcastle)
