NBL1 North Recap | Saturday Women's Round 3

Big names delivered on Saturday night in the NBL North Women's competition including Cayla George and Shyla Heal sparking the Cairns Dolphins and Northside Wizards to Round 3 victories.

There were also Saturday night wins for the Gold Coast Rollers, Mackay Meteorettes, North Gold Coast Seahawks and Logan Thunder.

There was just the one match back on Friday night to open Round 3 in the NBL1 North Women's competition. That saw the Townsville Flames defeat the South West Metro Pirates 71-61.

Then on Saturday evening, the Cairns Dolphins were impressive at home beating the South West Metro Pirates 88-62. Teyahna Bond scored 23 points for Cairns with Cayla George delivering 21 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists.

It was a thriller at Carrara Stadium with the Gold Coast Rollers beating USC Rip City 68-65. Sarah Ambrose and Angela Lou Beadle scored 15 points each for Gold Coast with Maddy Rocci putting up 30 points for Rip City.

The Mackay Meteorettes scored a home win against the Rockhampton Cyclones on the back of a dominant finish to the contest, winning 83-67. Shaniece Swain delivered 32 points for the Meteorettes while Jannon Otto scored 26 points for Rockhampton.

The Northside Wizards delivered an impressive road victory to beat the Sunshine Coast Phoenix 85-73. Syla Heal scored 28 points for the Wizards and Tiana Cynthia Mangakahia 25 while Caitlin Glancy top scored for the Phoenix with 17 points.

The North Gold Coast Seahawks also prevailed in another nail-biter 68-61 against the Ipswich Force. Erin Riley put together 19 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists for the Seahawks while Tia Hay scored 26 points for Ipswich and hit six triples.

It was a big win for the Logan Thunder at Darwin Basketball Stadium, beating the Darwin Salties 94-62. Chevannah top-scored with 22 points for Logan while Mikaela Ruef had 12 points and 21 rebounds while Erin Bollmann top-scored for Darwin with 15 points along with eight assists, seven rebounds and six steals.

Round 3 in the NBL1 North Women's season will now wrap up on Sunday afternoon at JBS Stadium with the Ipswich Force hosting Red City Roar. Tip-off is set for 1pm.

NBL1 NORTH – 2022 WOMEN'S SEASON
ROUND 3 – SATURDAY NIGHT

CAIRNS DOLPHINS 88 defeated SOUTH WEST METRO PIRATES 62

The Cairns Dolphins flexed their considerable muscle with an impressive win at home on Saturday night against the South West Metro Pirates.

The Dolphins were at home at Early Settler Stadium to host the Pirates on Saturday night and had too much firepower to end up recording the 88-62 victory.

Cairns started strongly with 28 points to 20 in the first quarter before flexing their authority in the second quarter with 20 points to seven to head into half-time leading 48-27.

The Dolphins then outscored South West 40 points to 35 in the second half on the way to the 26-point win to improve to 2-1 on the season while the Pirates are 0-3.

Fresh off winning another WNBL championship at the Melbourne Boomers, Cayla George is some ominous form early in the NBL1 North season for the Dolphins with another 21 points, 16 rebounds, eight assists and two steals in the Saturday night victory.

Teyahna also shot impressively at 9/15 from the field and 3/6 from three-point land to put up 23 points and four assists for the Dolphins while Alessandra Burke contributed 17 points, four rebounds and three steals, and Penina Davidson 12 points, 12 boards and five assists.

Steph Bairstow backed up a strong performance in Townsville the night before with another 19 points and seven rebounds for South West while Alissa Alston put up 13 points and four rebounds, Catherine MacGregor eight points and three boards, and Tyla King-Paul eight points and six rebounds.

 

GOLD COAST ROLLERS 68 defeated USC RIP CITY 65

The Gold Coast Rollers kept their winning start to the 2022 season going with a home victory against USC Rip City on Saturday night.

While the Rollers ended up on top it was Rip City who led the way most of the way chasing their first win of 2022.

The visitors led 18-14 by quarter-time and were still on top 33-30 by half-time before extending their advantage with another 20 points to 12 in the third period.

That saw USC leading 53-42 heading into the fourth quarter and Gold Coast had to respond, and they did so impressively with 26 points to 12 to overrun Rip City and come away with the 68-65 victory.

The result improves the Rollers to a 2-0 record on the season while Rip City are now 0-3.

Gold Coast won the game despite collecting 11 fewer rebounds than USC and going just 4/20 from beyond the arc. They also took eight fewer field goals but still managed come away with the narrow win.

Sarah Ambrose finished with 15 points and two assists for Gold Coast with Angela Lou Bea contributing 15 points and 10 rebounds, Jade Peacock nine points, and Taylor Lee eight points, three rebounds and three assists.

Lauren Mansfield still contributed nine points, seven assists and six rebounds despite shooting just 1/11 on the night.

Maddy Rocci did all she could to help Rip City to their first win of the season with 30 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals while Ashley Harris delivered 15 points and seven rebounds, and Carlie Smith nine points and 18 boards.

 

MACKAY METEORETTES 83 defeated ROCKHAMPTON CYCLONES 67

The Rockhampton Cyclones looked a real chance to hand the Mackay Meteorettes their first of the 2022 season on Saturday before the home team powered away in the finish.

It was a tight contest for much of the evening at Mackay Basketball Stadium with the Meteorettes leading by six points at quarter-time but the Cyclones turning things around to lead 41-39 by the half-time break.

Rockhampton were still two points up with seven minutes to go in the game, but Mackay was able to take over from there starting with a Shaneice Swain putback to tie scores up.

Swain then put the Meteorettes on top having grabbed a rebound and drove it up the full length of the floor to finish. By the time she hit a three to close out the game, it had been a dominant finish from Mackay to win 83-67 and remain unbeaten so far this season.

Shaneice Swain ultimately was the difference between the two teams producing 32 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks for Mackay.

Alex Hart added 11 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks, Monique Bobongie 10 points and five boards, and Grace George nine points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals.

Jannon Otto finished with 26 points and nine rebounds for Rockhampton with Madison Torresin contributing 13 points and five boards, and Lara McSpadden 10 points, 13 rebounds and three steals.

Despite their shooting struggles of 23/79 at 29 per cent from the field and 6/31 from three-point territory, renowned shooter Bri Bailey only played three minutes and made her one and only effort from deep.

 

SUNSHINE COAST PHOENIX 73 lost to NORTHSIDE WIZARDS 85

The Northside Wizards continued their unbeaten start to the season while keeping the Sunshine Coast Phoenix winless in the process.

The two teams did battle on Saturday night at Maroochydore Stadium and it was the Phoenix who started well on their home floor chasing their first win of the 2022 season.

They led 24-20 by quarter-time but the Wizards turned things around in the second quarter with 18 points to 11 to head into half-time leading 38-35.

Northside were then able to open up a match-winning advantage with another 23 points to 15 in the third quarter on their way to the 85-73 victory.

The result improves the Wizards to a 3-0 record on the season while the Phoenix slipped to 0-5.

While there wasn’t a lot between the shooting of the teams, the Wizards did take eight extra field goals, 15 more free-throws and had 21 offensive boards to 15, and forced the Phoenix into 20 turnovers.

WNBL star Shyla Heal put up 28 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals in the win for the Wizards with Tiana Cynthia Mangakahia adding 25 points, seven assists, six steals and five rebounds even if the pair did combine for just 5/22 from three-point range.

Alice O'Driscoll added 12 points and 10 rebounds for Northside, Kelsey McDermott nine points and four boards, and Caitlin Cunningham nine points and five rebounds.

Caitlin Clancy produced 17 points and three assists for Sunshine Coast with Nicola Handreck adding 12 points, seven boards and five assists, Eryka Sidney 12 points and five assists, Amy Browne 10 points, nine rebounds and five assists, and Tanaya Beacham nine points and 11 rebounds.

 

NORTH GOLD COAST SEAHAWKS 68 defeated IPSWICH FORCE 61

The Ipswich Force looked a chance for their second win of the 2022 NBL1 North season on Saturday night before a strong finish from the North Gold Coast Seahawks denied them.

The Seahawks started well on their home floor at Runaway Bay Stadium on Saturday night to lead 21-19 by quarter-time and still 35-32 by half-time.

However, it remained a tight contest the rest of the way but it was North Gold Coast who continued to just hold the Force at bay. They maintained their narrow lead down the stretch to end up winning 68-61.

The result improves North Gold Coast to a 3-1 record on the season after five rounds while the Force are 1-4 before now also taking on the Red City Roar on Sunday.

The major difference in the game was the Seahawks getting to the foul line 22 times to just 10 from the Force.

Erin Riley led the way in the win for the Seahawks with 19 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists on 8/14 shooting from the floor.

Doniyah Cliney added 16 points and nine rebounds, Katelyn Donovan 13 points and seven boards, and Katie Deeble 12 points and three assists.

Tia Hay finished with 26 points, seven rebounds and three assists while knocking down 6/11 from three-point land for Ipswich. The rest of the team went just 2/12 from downtown.

Georgia Ralph added 18 points, 12 rebounds, four steals and three assists for the Force, and Kasey Burton five points and nine boards.

 

DARWIN SALTIES 62 lost to LOGAN THUNDER 94

Logan Thunder made it two from two to open their NBL1 North Women's campaign with an impressive performance to beat the Darwin Salties on Saturday night.

Darwin Basketball Stadium was rocking to cheer on their new team as well for the Saturday night contest but the Thunder ensured they didn’t end up with a whole lot to cheer about in the women's match up.

Logan started impressively with 24 points to 16 in the opening period before opening up a commanding half-time advantage of 48-24 on the back of 24 points to in the second stanza.

The Thunder then closed the deal in the second half to end up winning 94-62 to improve to 2-0 on the season after three rounds while the Salties women are now 1-2.

It was a dominant rebounding performance from Logan with 53 boards to 37 to help them overcome 23 turnovers for the night. They also got to the foul line 28 times to 16 and shot a brilliant 47 per cent from three-point range with 16/34. The Salties went just 3/22 from beyond the arc.

Chevannah Paalvast put up 22 points and seven rebounds for the Thunder while hitting 3/4 from three-point territory with Ashley Taia adding 18 points.

Sigi Koizar also had 13 points and nine assists for Logan, Mikaela Ruef 12 points and 21 rebounds, Indiah Bowyer 11 points, and Carla Drennan eight points and two assists.

The Salties were without Chelsea Brook for the night with Erin Bollmann putting up 15 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and six steals, Jessica Boundy 13 points and three rebounds, and Ruby Porter nine points and five steals.