NBL1 West Recap | Friday Women's Round 5

The Perth Redbacks and Joondalup Wolves both appear to be two of the teams who are going to be capable of being there at the business end of the inaugural NBL1 West season in the Women's Division after impressive wins on Friday night.

It was the first Friday night of action in the NBL1 West season since way back in Round 1 and the two matches in the Women's Division that took place were both fascinating affairs between four impressive teams.

The Perth Redbacks won their first every home match in the NBL1 West by defeating an East Perth Eagles team coming into the contest on an impressive two-game winning streak.

But the Redbacks prevailed 82-71 at Belmont Oasis on the back of a dominant first half with Makailah Dyer, Shenae Hartree, Jess Jakens, Raya Thompson and Maddie Allen all impressive while Mary Goulding had a massive 23 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists and five steals for the Eagles.

The Joondalup Wolves kept their winning start to life in the NBL1 West going as well with a 78-72 victory against local rivals the Warwick Senators at Warwick Stadium.

The Lady Wolfpack won their third straight match on the back of 28 points and eight rebounds from Kayla Steindl while Stacey Barr put up 17 points and seven boards for the Senators.

Round 5 in the NBL1 West Women's Division will continue on Saturday evening with the Joondalup Wolves back in action against the Mandurah Magic at HBF Arena.

The Willetton Tigers will be hosting the Perry Lakes Hawks at Willetton Basketball Stadium with the Lakeside Lightning playing the South West Slammers at Lakeside Recreation Centre, and the Kalamunda Eastern Suns facing the Cockburn Cougars at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

Then on Sunday afternoon, the Kalamunda Eastern Suns back up against the Willetton Tigers also at home.

NBL1 WEST – 2021 WOMEN'S SEASON
ROUND 5 – FRIDAY NIGHT

PERTH REDBACKS 82 defeated EAST PERTH EAGLES 71

The Perth Redbacks have been able to notch their first NBL1 West victory on their home floor of Belmont Oasis having overcome the East Perth Eagles 82-71 on Friday night.

The Friday night battle opened up Round 5 in the 2021 NBL1 West season with the Redbacks back on their home court looking to make up for a narrow loss at the hands of the Perry Lakes Hawks at the same venue last Saturday.

East Perth, though, arrived at Belmont Oasis deserving to feel good about their chances having already signalled their vast improvement in 2021 having wo two of their opening three matches.

The stage was set for a tantalising match up and it didn’t disappoint but the Redbacks made the first break going up 10-3 after four minutes with Maddie Allen and Makailah Dyer impressing early.

Tahlia Fejo responded for East Perth with a triple but Dyer immediately hit back with a three of her own and then Sarah Allen did the same to give the Redbacks a 16-6 edge, which translated into a 26-17 advantage by quarter-time.

The margin stayed around that mark for most of the second quarter until Dyer again hit deep to see Perth's lead grow to 13 points, which soon became 15 thanks to Jess Jakens. 

It was then 17 when Dyer hit a couple of free-throws, and then Ella Thornton-Elliott made a three to close the half with the Redbacks on top 48-31.

It was a three-point fest to open the second half with Mary Goulding and Fejo connecting for East Perth, and Dyer for Perth all in the opening minute.

The Redbacks were on fire and two more three balls from Hartree and Bri Bailey saw the lead get out to 24 points shortly before three quarter-time.

East Perth kept fighting but couldn’t get closer than nine points in the final term with the Redbacks running out 11-point winners.

Makailah Dyer once again top-scored for the Redbacks with 19 points, five rebounds and three assists while hitting 3/4 from three-point territory.

Maddie Allen had a huge game consisting of 10 points, 18 rebounds, six assists and four blocked shots while Shenae Hartree had 16 points, Jess Jakens 14 points, seven rebounds and three assists, and Raya Thompson 12 points and five assists.

Opal Mader finished the night with 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Eagles with Tahlia Fejo adding 15 points on 5/10 shooting from three-point land. But Mary Goulding again top-scored with 23 points to go with 13 rebounds, seven assists and five steals in a huge all-round showing.

WARWICK SENATORS 72 lost to JOONDALUP WOLVES 78

The Joondalup Wolves put their unbeaten start to the season on the line on Friday night away to the Warwick Senators, and escaped with the 78-72 victory.

The Lady Wolfpack turned out to be the dominant team last year in the West Coast Classic on the way to winning that championship. 

They won their last six matches to clinch that title and there's no sign of them again not being the team to beat so far in the inaugural NBL1 West competition based on how they have started the 2021 season.

The Wolves came into Friday night's clash with the Senators at Warwick Stadium having won their opening two matches impressively against the East Perth Eagles and Kalamunda Eastern Suns, but their local rivals from Warwick were always going to be more of a test to open Round 5.

That's exactly how it panned out even though Joondalup scored the game's first four points and were up 9-2 after Nes'eya Williams drained a three-pointer.

But sparked by the last SBL MVP Stacey Barr who hit back-to-back threes, the Senators steadied and trailed by just the two points by quarter-time.

Kayla Steindl helped the Lady Wolfpack extend their lead back to double-figures to open the second quarter but the Senators were refusing to go away and had cut the Wolves lead to 41-33 by the half-time interval.

Steindl again helped Joondalup to a 14-point lead early in the second half which soon became 16 and eventually 22 when she connected from beyond the arc, but with Barr out there Warwick, they continued to fight and were back within 12 by three quarter-time.

All of a sudden with buckets to Barr, Jayda Clark and Tayla Hepburn to start the fourth term, the Senators were right back in it down just six but it was former Lightning championship winner Tia Ucich that hit a crucial three for Joondalup to put them back up 10.

From there the Wolves held on to win by six and continue their unbeaten run.

Kayla Steindl was an unstoppable force for the Lady Wolfpack finishing with 28 points, eight rebounds and three steals on shooting 11/15 from the field.

Amber Land added 12 points, nine rebounds and six assists for the Wolves, Nes'eya Williams 11 points and 12 boards, Olivia Basso eight points and Tia Ucich eight points.

Stacey Barr finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and three assists for the Senators with Chloe Forster adding 15 points and eight boards, Caitlyn Jones 13 points and five rebounds, and Tayla Hepburn 10 points and 10 boards.