NBL1 North Recap | Saturday Women's Semi Finals

The Grand Final Series is set in the NBL1 North Women and it's going to be quite the match up after emphatic semi-final victories on Saturday night for the Logan Thunder and Townsville Flames.

The finals got underway last Saturday night in the NBL1 North Women's competition for 2022 with quarter-final victories for the Southern Districts Spartans over USC Rip City, Brisbane Capitals against Northside Wizards, Logan Thunder over Cairns Dolphins, and Townsville Flames against Mackay Meteorettes.

That set up a semi-final night on Saturday featuring the four teams who finished in the top four positions at the end of the regular season with spots in next week's Grand Final Series up for grabs.

First up was the undefeated regular season champion Logan Thunder improving to 21-0 in 2022 by beating the Brisbane Capitals 85-62.

Mikaela Ruef was a dominant force once more for Logan with 26 points, 21 rebounds, eight assists and four steals with Ashley Taia hitting five triples for 29 points.

Abby Cubillo top-scored for Brisbane with 22 points to go with four assists.

Then the Townsville Flames booked the other place in the Grand Final by defeating the Southern Districts Spartans 108-81 in a commanding statement performance.

Steph Reid produced another standout display for Townsville with 31 points and 11 assists while Courtney Woods added 24 points and six assists.

Madelyn Allen top-scored for Southern Districts with 18 points and four assists fresh off signing in the WNBL for the Sydney Flames.

The best-of-three Grand Final Series will now get underway between the Thunder and Flames on Friday, with the deciding games to follow on Saturday and if needed, Sunday. They will all take place at Bendigo Bank Cornubia Park Sports Centre.

NBL1 NORTH – 2022 WOMEN'S SEASON
SEMI FINALS – SATURDAY NIGHT

LOGAN THUNDER 85 defeated BRISBANE CAPITALS 62

A spot in the NBL1 North Grand Final went on the line on Saturday night at Bendigo Bank Cornubia Park Sports Centre with the Logan Thunder playing host to the Brisbane Capitals.

The Thunder went through the regular season undefeated before beating the Cairns Dolphins in the quarter finals while the Capitals ended in fourth spot with a 12-7 record before beating the Northside Wizards in the first week of the finals.

It didn’t take long for Logan to stamp their authority on the semi-final match up on their home floor as they put together a 10-0 run in the first quarter to go into the quarter-time break leading already by 12 points.

Already five consecutive points in the second term saw that lead for the Thunder grow to 17 points and while the Caps did their best to stay in touch, Logan was still in control 42-27 by half-time.

The lead continued to gradually grow in the second half with Logan going up by as much as 21 points in the third quarter, and 27 in the fourth before the Thunder went on to win 85-62.

That means that Logan earns the hosting rights for the Grand Final Series now as they look to go through all of 2022 undefeated while the season comes to an end for the Capitals.

Ashley Taia put together a tremendous shooting performance for Logan knocking down 10/16 from the floor, 5/8 from downtown and 4/4 at the foul line on her way to 29 points, four assists and three rebounds.

Mikaela Ruef was a dominant presence once more with 26 points, 21 rebounds, eight assists and four steals.

Sigi Koizar added 12 points, six rebounds and six assists for Logan, and Chevannah Paalvast nine points, four assists, three boards and two blocked shots.

Abby Cubillo did what she could to try and keep Brisbane in the contest finishing with 22 points, four rebounds and four assists.

Steph Collins added 14 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two blocks, Anna Cameron 13 points, five boards and four assists, and Hilary Fuller seven points, six rebounds and three assists. 

SOUTHERN DISTRICTS SPARTANS 81 lost to TOWNSVILLE FLAMES 108

The Townsville Flames proved too much for the Southern Districts Spartans in their semi-final battle on Saturday night to advance to the NBL1 North Grand Final Series.

The Spartans finished the regular season in second position with a 17-2 record before a commanding quarter-final victory against USC Rip City to keep them at home for their semi-final match up with the Flames.

Townsville ended the regular season in third spot at 16-3 before beating the Mackay Meteorettes in the quarters so little separated the two teams coming into the semi-final at Rowland Cowan Stadium.

Townsville got the better of the start away from home as well at one point in the first quarter scoring seven straight points to lead by as much as nine, and still being up 24-19 by quarter-time.

The Flames then blew the game wide open in the third quarter and opened up a lead as big as 20 points on the back of outscoring the Spartans 31 points to 20.

Townsville weren’t about to take the foot off the gas and delivered another 37 points in the third quarter which saw their lead grow to as much as 35 points on the back of a 10-point scoring streak.

From there the Flames cruised to the eventual 108-81 victory to book in their spot in the Grand Final and end the season of the Spartans in unceremonious fashion on their home court.

It was a stunning shooting performance from Townsville with a Grand Final spot on the line. The Flames went at 52.3 per cent as a team while hitting 15/27 at 55.6 per cent from downtown. They also got to the foul line 31 times and hit 25 of them.

The Spartans just had no answers going 44.9 per cent from the field themselves while hitting 7/27 from beyond the arc and 12/18 from the free-throw line.

Steph Reid was brilliant in the big win for Townsville with 31 points, 12 assists and five rebounds while shooting 9/15 from the field, 2/2 from deep and 11/12 at the charity stripe.

Courtney Woods added 24 points and six assists while hitting 5/8 from three-point range with Aliza Fabbro contributing 15 points and four rebounds, Alanna Smith 13 points and 10 boards, and Mia Murray 13 points and three assists.

Fresh off signing at the Sydney Flames in the WNBL, Madelyn Allen fought valiantly for Southern Districts with 18 points and four assists while Lil Dart contributed 14 points, six assists and four rebounds, Leah Scott 11 points, and Kalani Purcell nine points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and three steals.