NBL1 West Recap | Friday Women's Round 14

A monstrous performance from Mary Goulding has kept the East Perth Eagles' winning run going in the NBL1 West Women's Division to open Round 14 on Friday night while there were wins also for the Perry Lakes Hawks and Cockburn Cougars.

It's getting towards the business end of the inaugural NBL1 West season and every game is taking on extra significance. 

That was the case on Friday night with the Cougars winning to strengthen their playoff spot, the Lady Hawks winning to go into eighth position and then the Eagles continuing to close in on the top two with a fifth consecutive victory.

Round 14 got underway on Friday night with the Cockburn Cougars snapping their three-match losing streak by defeating the South West Slammers 94-38 at Eaton Recreation Centre.

Tayah Simmons put up 25 points, nine rebounds and five steals for the Cougars while shooting a supremely efficient 12/14 from the floor. Adele East top-scored for the Slammers with 16 points.

The Perry Lakes Hawks made a flying start thanks to the hot shooting of Millie McCarthy and moved into eighth position at the expense of Lakeside with the 89-72 victory against the Lightning at Lakeside Recreation Centre.

McCarthy hit four threes for Perry Lakes for 16 points and five assists while Megan McKay added 21 points and nine rebounds while Ash Isenbarger had 21 points for Lakeside and Kyrah Daniels 17.

The East Perth Eagles then made it five wins in-a-row as they continued their charge towards a top two position with a 72-60 win against the Kalamunda Eastern Suns at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

Mary Goulding was an unstoppable force for the Lady Eagles putting up 35 points and 17 rebounds while Jewel Williams and Ellyce Ironmonger had 13 points apiece for the Eastern Suns.

Round 14 in the NBL1 West Women's Division will now conclude on Saturday night with a host of critical match ups starting with the Perth Redbacks playing the Lakeside Lightning at Belmont Oasis.

The Joondalup Wolves are also hosting the Warwick Senators at HBF Arena while the Mandurah Magic face the Willetton Tigers at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre.

NBL1 WEST – 2021 WOMEN'S SEASON
ROUND 14 – FRIDAY NIGHT

SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 38 lost to COCKBURN COUGARS 94
The Cockburn Cougars strengthened their playoff position by continuing the misery of the South West Slammers this season with a 56-point victory on Friday night.

The Cougars had lost their previous three matches ahead of the trip to Eaton Recreation Centre on Friday night against the winless Slammers.

Cockburn needed to find a way to return to the winner's list in the hopes of consolidating their place in the top eight in the NBL1 West Women's Division, and they were able to do so in emphatic fashion.

The longer the game went the more dominant a performance it became from the Cougars as well who opened up by scoring 25 points to 14 in the opening quarter away from home.

It was then another 22 points to 14 in the second term from Cockburn and that saw the visitors head into the half-time interval leading the Slammers 47-28.

The Cougars really clamped down defensively in the second half with the Slammers having no answers on the scoreboard. Cockburn held them to just six points in the third quarter and four in the fourth while adding another 47 points in the second half themselves.

The win improves Cockburn to a 7-5 record on the season inside the top eight and still knocking on the door of the top four while South West has lost all 14 of its matches by big margins now in 2021.

Taylah Simmons had a huge night for the Cougars and an efficient one finishing with 25 points, nine rebounds and five steals on the back of shooting 12/14 from the floor.

Jessie Edwards also contributed 15 points and seven rebounds for the Cougars with Olivia Bassett-Scarfe adding 11 points and four boards, Akim Lual 10 points and four rebounds, and Emma Burke eight points, nine rebounds and five steals.

Adele East top-scored for the Slammers with 16 points while Cian Parsons added nine points and 13 rebounds, Skye Palmer five points and Leah York four points, four rebounds and two steals.

LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 72 lost to PERRY LAKES HAWKS 89
The Perry Lakes Hawks took a leap towards a playoff berth in the NBL1 West Women's Division on Friday night getting off to a fast start with the size and experience inside, and outside shooting too much for the Lakeside Lightning.

It was always going to be a significant game in the battle for eighth position in the Women's Division as the end of the regular season closes in.

Lakeside, Perry Lakes, the Mandurah Magic and Kalamunda Eastern are all on four wins coming into Round 14 with only one spot appearing available with the top seven teams all at least three wins ahead, so that made Friday's game at Lakeside Recreation Centre massive.

And the Lady Hawks made a flying start with the game's opening seven points which soon became 25-10 just before quarter-time with Millie McCarthy having nailed her third three-pointer already.

McCarthy went on to make a fourth triple of the opening quarter for Perry Lakes to lead by as much as 17, but just 11 by the break.

As hard as Lakeside fought, the size and experience inside of Nat Burton, Megan McKay and Maddie Dennis, and then the back court of McCarthy and Mia Satie kept the Hawks in control most of the rest of the way.

They maintained around a double-digit lead most of the rest of the night but Ash Isenbarger opened the second half with seven quick points for Lakeside. Mikayla Pirini then hit a three and it was a four-point ball game, but McKay responded with the next five points for Perry Lakes.

From there the Hawks maintained their edge to go on and win 89-72 to snap their two-game losing run and improve to a 5-7 record to move ahead of the now 4-7 Lightning.

The shooting of both teams was the major difference in the game with Perry Lakes going 48.5 per cent from the field while hitting 6/13 at 46.2 per cent from beyond the arc. Lakeside only managed to go at 38.9 per cent from the floor and 3/34 at 8.8 per cent from deep.

Megan McKay had another terrific night for Perry Lakes with 21 points and nine rebounds on 6/8 shooting with Nat Burton adding 15 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists, and Maddie Dennis seven points and six boards.

Then the Perry Lakes back court was tremendous with Millie McCarthy finishing with 16 points and five assists, and Mia Satie 19 points, seven assists, four steals and three rebounds.

Lakeside might not have been able to buy a three-point basket with Ash Isenbarger going 1/12, Alecia Knowles 1/6, Mikayla Pirini 1/6 and Jae Flynn 0/6, but they did battle hard outside of that even with 26 turnovers thrown in.

Isenbarger still put up 21 points to go with nine rebounds, four blocks, three assists and two steals with Kyrah Daniels contributing 17 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals, Mikayla Pirini nine points and four assists, and Savannah Coleman nine points and six rebounds.

KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 60 lost to EAST PERTH EAGLES 72
The East Perth Eagles can lay claim to being the hottest team now in the NBL1 West Women's Division after another impressive win on Friday night against the Kalamunda Eastern Suns.

The dramatic turnaround from regular cellar dweller to now championship contender from the Lady Eagles in 2021 has been remarkable under coach Blake Srdarev and is showing no signs of slowing down.

East Perth made the trip to Ray Owen Sports Centre on Friday night to take on a Kalamunda team trying to break into the top eight and who had won their last two games themselves, but the Eagles proved too strong.

East Perth started the better and led by seven at quarter-time but on their home floor, Kalamunda worked their way on top throughout the second quarter to end up scoring 19 points to 12 and to leave scores all tied at 33-33 by half-time.

The challenge was there for one of the teams to make their move in the third quarter and it was the Lady Eagles who did just that. They put up 20 points to 14 in the third quarter and then 19 to 13 in the end up recording the 72-60 victory.

The win is a fifth in-a-row now for the Eagles to mean they are on the longest current win streak in the Women's Division and they are banging down for a top two position now holding a 9-4 record.

The Eastern Suns missed a chance to put further pressure on for a top eight spot after winning their last two games now slipping to 4-8 following the defeat.

Ultimately Mary Goulding proved the difference between the two teams. She was simply unstoppable and finished the evening for the Eagles with 35 points, 17 rebounds, five assists and four steals while shooting 12/20 from the floor, 3/6 from beyond the arc and 8/8 from the foul line.

Opal Mader also put up 15 points, eight rebounds and three assists for the Eagles, BJ Moyes 11 points, three rebounds, three steals and two assists, and Eryn Fisher seven points, eight boards and three assists.

Ellyce Ironmonger battled away down low for the Eastern Suns for 14 points, eight rebounds and five assists with Jewel Williams contributing 13 points and six assists while hitting 4/8 from three-point territory.

Mia Jacobs also had 11 points, 13 rebounds and three steals for Kalamunda, Melissa Moyle nine points, three assists, three rebounds and three steals, and Rebecca Motroni six points and seven boards.