NBL1 North Recap | Saturday Women's Round 5

A massive Kalani Purcell triple-double sparked the Southern Districts Spartans in Saturday night's NBL1 North Women's action while Jannon Otto led the Rockhampton Cyclones to a big road win and Abby Cubillo again shone for the Brisbane Capitals.

There were Saturday night victories for the Brisbane Capitals, Rockhampton Cyclones, Sunshine Coast Phoenix, Southern Districts Spartans, North Gold Coast Seahawks and Darwin Salties.

Round 5 in the NBL1 North Women's competition began on Friday night with the Mackay Meteorettes beginning their triple-header weekend beating the Gold Coast Rollers 91-77.

The Townsville Flames also defeated the Rockhampton Cyclones 87-65 on their home court.

The Brisbane Capitals got another big performance from Abby Cubillo in their 75-61 victory at home against USC Rip City. Cubillo put up 23 points and seven assists with Ashley Arlen delivering 23 points and 12 rebounds in the loss for Rip City.

The Rockhampton Cyclones produced an impressive road performance in Cairns to beat the Dolphins 84-69. Jannon Otto finished with 31 points for the Cyclones and Lara McSpadden 21 points and 13 boards while Penina Davidson had 24 points and 16 boards for Cairns without Cayla George.

It was a thriller at Maroochydore Stadium with the Sunshine Coast Phoenix prevailing 81-78 against the Red City Roar.

Nicola Handreck finished with 25 points for Sunshine Coast and Jaylen Cooper 31 points for Red City.

The Southern Districts Spartans were impressive in beating the Northside Wizards 93-71 with Nadeen Payne finishing with 20 points, and Kalani Purcell 12 points, 21 rebounds and 14 assists. Tiana Mangakahia put up 39 points in the loss for the Wizards.

The North Gold Coast Seahawks defeated the Mackay Meteorettes 82-71 with Erin Riley producing 18 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Alisia Jenkins delivered 24 points and eight rebounds for Mackay.

The Darwin Salties were then impressive in the Top End beating the South West Metro Pirates 97-74. Chelsea Brook had 25 points and 10 rebounds for Darwin with Alissa Alston adding 19 points, seven boards and six assists for the Pirates.

Round 5 in the NBL1 North Women's competition will now wrap up on Sunday afternoon with the Logan Thunder hosting the Mackay Meteorettes.

NBL1 NORTH – 2022 WOMEN'S SEASON
ROUND 5 – SATURDAY NIGHT

BRISBANE CAPITALS 75 defeated USC RIP CITY 61

It was a hot start from the Brisbane Capitals to set up an eventual 14-point victory at home to USC Rip City on Saturday night.

The Capitals were back home at Auchenflower Stadium and started well against Rip City with 21 points to 13 in the opening quarter.

Brisbane produced another 26 points to 19 in the second period to go into half-time leading 47-32.

The Capitals then consolidated the win in the second half to end up prevailing 75-61 to improve to a 4-1 record on the season after the opening five rounds while USC remains without a victory so far in 2022.

Abby Cubillo continued her impressive form for the Capitals with the University of Canberra WNBL guard putting up another 23 points, seven assists, six rebounds and four steals.

Steph Collins also put up 13 points, five rebounds, three steals and two blocks for Brisbane, Madison Woodford nine points and three boards, Courtney Middap eight points and four rebounds, Anna Cameron seven points and seven boards, and Bronte Corke seven points and six steals.

Ashley Arlen finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds for Rip City while Carlie Smith added 20 points, nine boards and four steals, and Camryn Hughes six points and three assists.

 

CAIRNS DOLPHINS 69 lost to ROCKHAMPTON CYCLONES 84

The Rockhampton Cyclones bounced back to beat the Cairns Dolphins on the road on Saturday night just 24 hours after suffering a tough loss in Townsville.

The Cyclones started their double-header losing to the Flames in Townsville on Friday night before heading to Early Settler Stadium on Saturday taking on a Dolphins team minus Cayla George who was on Australian Opals duties.

However, it was Cairns that started the game on fire with 22 points to 10 in the first quarter. While Rockhampton outscored them narrowly in the second period, it was still the Dolphins in control leading 45-35 at the half-time interval.

The Cyclones were staring down the barrel of their fifth loss already from seven games this season, but they dug deep at half-time and whatever coach Drew Fenton said worked a treat.

Rockhampton produced an outstanding third quarter made up of 27 points while holding Cairns to 11 before the Cyclones were able to close the deal with another 22 points to 13 in the fourth quarter.

That saw Rockhampton claim the 84-69 victory to improve to 2-4 on the season after the opening five rounds while the Dolphins are now 4-2.

Jannon Otto was the start of the victory for the Cyclones as she put up 31 points, five rebounds, five steals and three assists while shooting 4/8 from three-point land and 9/13 at the foul line.

Lara McSpadden fought valiantly inside the arc too to finish with 21 points and 13 rebounds with Madison Torresin contributing 12 points, six rebounds and three assists, and Annaliese Watkinson 12 points and two assists.

Penina Davidson did her best to pick up the slack for Cairns with the absence of Cayla George to finish with 24 points, 16 rebounds, three assists and two steals on 11/21 shooting.

Alessandra Burke added 23 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals for Cairns with Leichan Williams contributing 11 points and seven boards, and Teyahna Bond six points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.

 

SUNSHINE COAST PHOENIX 81 defeated RED CITY ROAR 78

It was a thriller at Maroochydore Stadium on Saturday night with the Sunshine Coast Phoenix coming from behind to beat the Red City Roar by just the three points.

The Roar started strongly away from home to lead 21-15 by quarter-time and then still went into the half-time break leading 43-37.

Sunshine Coast needed to respond coming out of half-time on their home court and they were able to with 21 points to 17 in the third quarter. They then overran Red City with another 23 points to 18 in the fourth period to end up winning 71-78.

It was the first win on the season for the Phoenix after six consecutive losses while the Roar are now 2-3 following the defeat.

It was an impressive shooting night from both teams with Sunshine Coast going at 50.8 per cent from the field and Red City 49.2 per cent. The Phoenix also went 6/14 from three-point range and the Roar 8/20.

Nicola Handreck starred for Sunshine Coast in their first win of 2022 with 25 points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists on shooting 9/14 from the floor and 4/8 from three-point territory.

Tanaya Beacham added 18 points and 12 rebounds, Amy Browne 15 points and four boards, and Caitlin Clancy 12 points and six assists.

Jaylen Cooper was terrific for Red City delivering 31 points on 13/19 shooting including 4/8 from downtown even though she did only make 1/6 at the foul line.

Mia Lloyd added 23 points, five rebounds and five assists for the Roar, and Emily Preston nine points, seven boards, five steals and three assists.

 

SOUTHERN DISTRICTS SPARTANS 93 defeated NORTHSIDE WIZARDS 71

The Southern Districts Spartans might have started slowly but soon worked their way on top to beat the Northside Wizards by 22 points at home on Saturday night.

The Wizards might have been without Shyla Heal who is with the Australian Opals, but they still started strongly at Rowland Cowan Stadium with 19 points to 15 in the opening quarter.

Southern Districts were able to turn things around in the second period with 24 points to 16 to go into half-time leading 39-35.

It might have been a tight game at the main break but it didn’t last that way for long with the Spartans going on to score nine consecutive points against the Wizards and leading by as much as 18 points.

Southern Districts continued the roll going in the fourth team to end up leading by as much as 26 points before going on to win 93-71 and improve to 4-1 on the season and that's where the Wizards now are too after suffering their first defeat of the 2022 season.

Nadeen Payne was impressive in the win for Southern Districts with 20 points and seven rebounds while Leah Scott contributed 18 points, nine boards and four assists, and Maddie Allen 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

Lil Dart also had 15 points and three steals for the Spartans, and Kalani Purcell 12 points, 21 rebounds, 14 assists, five steals and three blocked shots in a stunning all-round performance including the triple-double.

Tiana Mangakahia did all she could to keep the Wizards unbeaten this year with 39 points, 10 rebounds and five assists on shooting 15/30 from the floor and 7/7 at the foul line.

Georgia McCarron added 10 points and seven rebounds, Alice O'Driscoll six points and eight rebounds, and Kelsey McDermott six points and four boards.

 

NORTH GOLD COAST SEAHAWKS 82 defeated MACKAY METEORETTES 71

The Mackay Meteorettes couldn’t quite make it two wins inside 24 hours to start their three-game Round 5 road trip with the North Gold Coast Seahawks beating them at home by 11 points.

Mackay had started their triple-header this weekend with a win on Friday night over the Gold Coast  Rollers and they started well enough on Saturday at Runaway Bay Stadium to lead by a point after the first quarter

North Gold Coast was able to work their way slightly on top during the second quarter with 21 points to 17 to end up leading on their home floor 42-39 at half-time.

The Seahawks then further opened up a handy gap during the third quarter with 19 points to 11 before leading by as much as 14 points in the last term and going on to record the 82-71 victory.

The win improves North Gold Coast to a 4-2 record on the season at the end of Round 5 while Mackay are 4-2 with a game still to come on Sunday away to the Logan Thunder.

Erin Riley top-scored for the Seahawks with 18 points, 10 rebounds and six assists while Isalys Quinones added 17 points, six boards and four assists.

Lauren Jansen also had 14 points and six rebounds, Katie Deeble 12 points and seven assists, and Doniyah Cliney nine points, 10 boards and five steals.

The Meteorettes were without Shaneice Swain and Miela Goodchild who helped on Friday night in the win against the Rollers but Alisia Jenkins did her best to pick up the slack with 24 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Ellie Collins added 15 points and eight rebounds for Mackay, Monique Bobongie 12 points, and Alexa Hart seven points, four boards and four assists.

 

DARWIN SALTIES 97 defeated SOUTH WEST METRO PIRATES 74

The Darwin Salties won their second game in the NBL1 North Women's competition with a 23-point victory against the South West Metro Pirates in the Top End.

The Salties were back home at the Darwin Basketball Stadium and they started impressively on their home court with 29 points to 19 against the Pirates.

South West was able to work back into the contest during the second term with 20 points to 18 to be within eight at the half, and they kept that momentum going into the third quarter.

It was still a tight game at three quarter-time with Darwin only leading 66-63, but then the Salties produced their best quarter of basketball of the season to pile on 31 points and hole the Pirates to 11.

That saw Darwin score the 97-74 victory to improve to 2-4 on the season after five rounds while the Pirates remain winless after six matches.

Darwin pulled down 60 rebounds to 42 for the game while shooting 43.2 per cent from the floor opposed to 33.8 per cent from the Pirates.

Chelsea Brook was terrific for the Salties with 25 points, 10 rebounds and three steals on the back of shooting 10/15 from the field and 5/5 at the charity stripe.

Erin Bollmann added 24 points, 14 rebounds, eight assists and five steals for Darwin, Teyla Evans 12 points and 15 boards, Serena Waters 11 points, seven boards and four assists, and Ruby Porter 10 points, three assists and three steals.

Alissa Alston top-scored for South West with 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists with Bride Kennedy-Hopoate adding 17 points and five boards, and Steph Bairstow 14 points and 10 rebounds.