NBL1 West Recap | Friday Women's Round 8

The Rockingham Flames, Cockburn Cougars and Lakeside Lightning all showed what they are capable of in the NBL1 West Women's Division with commanding victories on Friday night.

Round 8 in the NBL1 West Women's Division got underway with the three matches on Friday night and by the end of the evening, the Flames consolidated top spot, the Cougars showed their credentials and the Lightning were the latest team to take advantage of the struggling Slammers.

The Lakeside Lightning got rolling at Eaton Recreation Centre to deliver the South West Slammers another hefty defeat even at home, 94-47.

Ash Isenbarger produced her best game of the season for the Lightning to deliver 25 points, five rebounds and five steals while Zaya Black again fought valiantly for the Slammers with 16 points and four rebounds.

The East Perth Eagles delivered the upset of the season a week ago beating the Joondalup Wolves, but they couldn’t back it up this Friday night with the Cockburn Cougars beating them 75-65 at Herb Graham Recreation Centre.

Taylah Simmons delivered 23 points and four assists for the Cougars and Molly Matthews 19 points while Mary Goulding returned for East Perth and produced 18 points and 13 rebounds.

The Rockingham Flames consolidated top position and improved to a 6-1 record with the 73-53 victory against their local rivals Mandurah Magic at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

Tayah Burrows produced another 19 points and five assists for the Flames with Christina Boag adding 16 points, eight rebounds and four steals. Carly Boag ended up with 16 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals for the Magic.

Round 8 in the NBL1 West Women's Division season for 2021 wraps up on Saturday evening with the Cockburn Cougars at home to the Perth Redbacks with the Warwick Senators also hosting the Perry Lakes Hawks, and the Willetton Tigers are at home to the Kalamunda Eastern Suns.

NBL1 WEST – 2021 WOMEN'S SEASON
ROUND 8 – FRIDAY NIGHT

SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 47 lost to LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 94

The Lakeside Lightning bounced back from a similarly heavy defeat of their last week to beat the South West Slammers by 47 points on Friday night.

The Lightning suffered a 51-point defeat on the road to the Warwick Senators last Saturday night, but they were able to bounce back impressively on Friday against the Slammers at Eaton Recreation Centre.

The Lightning had already beaten the Slammers by 50 points back in Round 5 and they were able to repeat the dose in similar fashion this Friday on the road despite coming off their own big loss a week ago.

Lakeside started the game strongly and had already opened up a 24-10 advantage by quarter-time.

It was more of the same in the second term with the Lightning scoring 24 points to 11 from the Slammers to head into half-time leading 46-21.

There was no let up after half-time either, in fact the Lighting took things up another gear racking up 35 points in the third quarter while holding South West to just the eight points to lead 81-29.

That was an embarrassing scoreline but to the Slammers' credit they won the last quarter 18 points to 13 with the Lightning going on to win 94-47.

The Lightning improved to a 2-3 record on the season with the win on the back of Ash Isenbarger delivering her best performance of the NBL1 West season with 25 points, five rebounds, five steals, three assists and two blocked shots while shooting 10/17 from the floor and 3/4 from deep.

Kyrah Daniels also had 15 points, seven rebounds, six steals and three assists for Lakeside with Riley Burd contributing 14 points, Courtney Green nine points, four rebounds and three steals, and Mikayla Pirini nine points and five assists.

It was tough going again for the Slammers who have lost their opening eight games of the season by an average of 53.5 points, but Zaya Black once again battled hard for 16 points and four rebounds.

Cian Parson also had 10 points and eight rebounds for South West, and Jasmine Barrett six points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals.

EAST PERTH EAGLES 65 lost to COCKBURN COUGARS 75

The East Perth Eagles couldn’t quite back up their stunning performance last week to upset the Joondalup Wolves with the Cockburn Cougars coming away with the 75-65 road victory on Friday night.

The Eagles delivered their best performance in years last Friday night to beat the reigning West Coast Classic champion Joondalup Wolves, and they were back on their home court of Herb Graham Recreation Centre to host the Cougars this Friday.

Cockburn was coming off a loss last weekend to the Rockingham Flames, and responded well to end up with the 10-point win away from home to improve to a 4-2 record on the season.

It was a tight start to the game with the Cougars holding a narrow three-point lead by quarter-time and they were able to stretch their advantage marginally with another 21 points to 19 in the second period to head into half-time leading 39-34.

The third quarter proved to the be decisive period of the match with the Cougars managing to dominate with 24 points to 13 and that saw the visitors head into the three quarter-time break with a commanding 63-47 advantage.

East Perth never gave up the fight, though, and were able to hold Cockburn to just the nine points in the fourth quarter but they couldn’t quite close the gap with the Cougars still going on to record the 75-65 victory.

There was plenty to like about the Cockburn performance with Taylah Simmons showing the way with 23 points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals on the back of shooting 9/14 from the floor and 3/5 from three-point territory.

Molly Matthews provided tremendous support with 19 points and four rebounds with Jessie Edwards finishing with 11 points and five boards, Ruby Benn seven points and seven rebounds, and Kahlia Morgan seven points.

Mary Goulding was back this week for East Perth and again led them with 18 points and 13 rebounds.

BJ Moyes added 15 points and four rebounds for the Eagles, Tahlia Fejo 11 points and Jade Gowland eight points and five boards.

ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 73 defeated MANDURAH MAGIC 53

It was the battle of local rivals in Rockingham on Friday night not to mention of the Boag sisters and it was the Flames who continued to impress this season with the 20-point win against the Mandurah Magic.

Rockingham won the last SBL championship back in 2019 and despite being under a new coach with Tom Knowles and having plenty of new faces, they continue to emerge as the team to beat in 2021.

The Flames again showed what they are capable of with a strong 73-53 victory against the Mandurah Magic at Mike Barnett Sports Complex on Friday night.

That result sees Rockingham move clear at the top of the standings with a 6-1 record while Mandurah is now 2-5 from its opening seven matches.

Rockingham didn’t take long to clamp down and restrict Mandurah to just the nine points in the opening quarter while scoring 18 points themselves.

It was more of the same in the second quarter too with another 20 points to 11 for the Flames to see them in control leading 38-20 by half-time.

The second half was a largely even battle but the Flames had already set up their sixth win of the season in that opening half and went on to cruise to the 20-point victory.

The battle of the Boag sisters was always going to be a highlight of the contest, and it didn’t disappoint with Christina producing 16 points, eight rebounds and four steals for Rockingham while Carly had 16 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals for Mandurah.

But Christina had plenty more help with Tayah Burrows finishing with 19 points and five assists for the Flames, Ariana Hetherington nine points and six rebounds, Paris Duffield eight points and Jorjah Smith seven points and five boards.

Emma Klasztorny contributed 12 points and eight rebounds for Mandurah, Bronte Corke nine points and Rachel Pettit six points and three assists.