NBL1 East Recap | Saturday Women's Round 8

Once again the Lauren Jackson comeback tour led to another big win for the Albury-Wodonga Bandits on Saturday night while a Sara Matthews triple-double helped the Central Coast Crusaders to a big win while Kim Hodge and Riley Evans also stood out in Saturday's NBL1 East action.

Round 8 in the NBL1 East competition began on Saturday night and ended up with Women's wins for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, Norths Bears, Sutherland Sharks, Albury-Wodonga Bandits and Central Coast Crusaders.

The Round 8 Saturday night action began with a thriller at the Northern Beaches with Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles coming from behind to beat the Canberra Nationals 71-67.

Kim Hodge was outstanding for the Sea Eagles with 30 points and nine rebounds while Bianca Dufelmeier delivered 20 points for Canberra.

It was a big win for Norths Bears on their home court beating the Illawarra Hawks 84-60. Riley Evans delivered 24 points for the Bears with Tyler Scaife finishing with 21 points for Illawarra.

It was another tight one at Sutherland Basketball Stadium with the Sutherland Sharks holding out the Hills Hornets to win 66-62. Vanessa Panousis delivered 19 points for the Sharks while Taryn Mahoney had 17 points for the Hornets.

Lauren Jackson then took her Albury-Wodonga Bandits on the road and helped delivered them an 82-50 victory against the Newcastle Falcons. Jackson put up another 32 points and seven rebounds with Chyra Evans adding 14 points for Newcastle.

The Central Coast Crusaders had a thumping 100-59 road win over the Inner West Bulls. Sara Matthews put up a huge triple-double with 25 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in the win.

Round 8 in the NBL1 East competition continues on Sunday with the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles hosting the Newcastle Falcons, the Sutherland Sharks taking on the Norths Bears, the Maitland Mustangs playing the Albury-Wodonga Bandits, and the Central Coast Crusaders playing the Hills Hornets.

NBL1 EAST – 2022 WOMEN'S SEASON
ROUND 8 – SATURDAY NIGHT

MANLY-WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES 71 defeated CANBERRA NATIONALS 68

The Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles held off the Canberra Nationals for a hard earned three-point victory in NBL1 East action on Saturday night.

The Sea Eagles started well with the first 11 points of the game at Northern Beaches Indoor Sports Centre and as a result the Nationals were playing catch up the rest of the way.

Manly were still lead 17-12 by quarter-time but a 9-0 run for Canberra during the second quarter helped the visitors back into the contest and the home team was only leading 32-30 at the half-time interval.

The Nationals then continued on with that momentum in the third quarter and at one stage opened up an eight point lead, and were still on top by one at three quarter-time.

However, the Sea Eagles opened up a handy lead again thanks to an 8-0 during the fourth quarter and then held off the late charge from Canberra for them to end up winning 71-68.

The result means that Manly-Warringah improves to 5-4 on the season with a game to come on Sunday while the Nationals are now 3-6 with the defeat.

Kim Hodge was the star of the win for the Sea Eagles with 30 points and nine rebounds on 11/18 shooting from the floor and 8/9 from the free-throw line.

Bree Delaney added 15 points and four rebounds, Alex Delaney 11 points, nine boards and four assists, and Antonia Henderson seven points, six assists and five rebounds.

Bianca Dufelmeier put up 20 points, eight rebounds and three assists for Canberra with Kristen Langhorn 14 points, nine boards and four assists, Abby Solway 14 points and four rebounds, and Lizzy Tonks 12 points, eight boards and five assists.

 

NORTHS BEARS 84 defeated ILLAWARRA HAWKS 60

The Norths Bears continued their impressive start to the NBL1 East season with a 24-point home win on Saturday against the Illawarra Hawks.

The Bears were back home at North Sydney Indoor Sports Centre and started well against the Hawks with 20 points to 14 in the first quarter.

Illawarra steadied and hit back with 21 points to 18 in the second term to cut the Norths lead to 38-35 by the half-time break.

It was then the Bears who dominated in the third quarter holding Illawarra to just the four points while scoring 21 themselves.

Norths went on to lead by as much 25 points during the fourth quarter before ending up winning 84-60 to improve to 6-1 on the season with a game to come on Sunday while the Hawks are now 6-3 following eight rounds.

The Bears dominated the rebound count pulling down 56 boards to 36 while also shooting 47.4 per cent from the field opposed to 29.9 from the Hawks.

Riley Evans was the star of the evening for the Bears with 24 points on 10/18 shooting from the field and 3/8 from three-point territory.

Jessica Bygate added 15 points and seven rebounds, Emily Simons 14 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists, Kate Seebohm 12 points, seven assists, five rebounds and three steals, and Carla Pitman 11 points, six boards and three assists.

Tyler Scaife delivered 21 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals for Illawarra, Ella Dent 13 points, four boards and four assists, and Georgia Ohrdorf 10 points and 10 rebounds.

 

SUTHERLAND SHARKS 66 defeated HILLS HORNETS 62

The Sutherland Sharks held off the fast finishing Hills Hornets for a four-point victory at home in NBL1 East action on Saturday night.

The Sharks were at home at Sutherland Basketball Stadium and they started well against the Hornets with 18 points to 11 in the first quarter. Another 17 points to 12 in the second and Sutherland were on top 35-23 at half-time.

The lead grew to as much as 19 points from the Sharks during the third quarter and while the Hornets did outscore them the rest of the way to cut the final margin to six, the Sharks still secured the 66-62 victory.

The Sharks were without Lauren Nicholson who was on Opals duties but still won to improve to 7-1 on the season with a game to come on Sunday while the Hornets are now 5-4 with a clash on Sunday to come against the Central Coast Crusaders.

Vanessa Panousis produced 19 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists for Sutherland while Olivia White added 17 points, eight rebounds and four steals, Emily Garland eight points and six rebounds, and Courtney West eight points, seven boards and four blocked shots.

Taryn Mahoney put up 17 points and four rebounds for the Hornets with Paris Roditis contributing 11 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals, Alana Goodchild 11 points, and Erica Pitman nine points, four boards and four steals. 

 

NEWCASTLE FALCONS 50 lost to ALBURY-WODONGA BANDITS 82

With Lauren Jackson again showing the way, the Albury-Wodonga Bandits continued their impressive form in Newcastle on Saturday night, beating the Falcons by 32 points.

The Bandits arrived at Newcastle Basketball Stadium and started strongly to set the tone for the evening holding Newcastle to just six points in the first quarter while scoring 16 themselves.

Albury-Wodonga went on another run of 11 straight points to lead by as much as 19 in the second term before heading into half-time with a 40-21 advantage.

The Bandits weren't letting up and went on another 15-0 in the third period to lead by as much as 23 points, and then again scored 12 points in-a-row in the final term to end up winning 82-50.

The victory improves Albury-Wodonga to a 6-2 record on the season ahead of a clash with the Maitland Mustangs on Sunday while the Falcons are now 5-4 following the defeat.

The Bandits ended up shooting 50.8 per cent from the floor for the game and knocked down 10/27 of their three-point attempts at 37.0 per cent. The Falcons, meanwhile, went 27.1 per cent from the field and hit 3/22 form three-point land at 13.6 per cent.

Lauren Jackson continued her remarkable return to play with the Bandits this NBL1 East season, delivering another 32 points and seven rebounds while playing 34 minutes.

Brodie-Paige Theodore added 15 points, five assists and four rebounds, Ai Yamada 12 points, three steals and two assists, and Molly Rice eight points, four rebound and three assists.

Chyra Evans ended up top-scoring for Newcastle with 14 points and four rebounds with Kate Kingham adding 13 points and four steals, and Emily Foy 10 points and six rebounds.

 

INNER WEST BULLS 59 lost to CENTRAL COAST CRUSADERS 100

It was the battle of two teams who have had a rough start to the 2022 NBL1 East season and it was the Central Coast Crusaders who built some confidence in a 41-point win over the Inner West Bulls.

The two teams had just one win between them for the season coming into Saturday's clash at ELS Hall Park and it was the Crusaders who came out with the morale booster while keeping the Bulls winless so far in 2022.

Central Coast started strongly with 23 points to 12 in the opening quarter and they continued to build their advantage from there.

The Crusaders would lead by 14 points at half-time, 35 points at three quarter-time and then go on to win the game 100-59 to improve to 2-6 on the season while the Bulls are 0-9 after the opening eight NBL1 East rounds.

Sara Matthews led the charge for Central Coast with 25 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists, six steals and three blocked shots in a stunning all-round performance. She shot 10/18 from the floor and 4/4 at the charity stripe.

Bronte Moore added 20 points and seven rebounds, Mikaela Miller 14 points, seven boards and four assists, Jonalyn Wittwer 12 points, seven rebounds and three assists, Sam McCubbin eight points, and Kyla Fitzgerald eight points.

Gabrielle Turnbull top-scored for Inner West with 26 points, four rebounds and four steals with Jade Yeomans adding 12 points and five boards.