NBL1 West Recap | Saturday Women's Round 13

The Mandurah Magic kept their winning form going on Saturday night in the NBL1 West Women's Division while 37 points from Makailah Dyer wasn’t enough for the Perth Redbacks with wins as well for the Kalamunda Eastern Suns, Willetton Tigers and East Perth Eagles.

It turned out to be a fascinating Saturday night to close Round 13 with the Tigers overcoming that big haul from Dyer while the Magic and Eastern Suns made it a big weekend and the Eagles kept their winning run going too.

Round 13 in the NBL1 West Women's Division got underway on Friday night with the Mandurah Magic beating the South West Slammers 89-68, the Perth Redbacks downing the Joondalup Wolves 75-64 and the Kalamunda Eastern Suns upsetting the Warwick Senators 87-73.

The Willetton Tigers also kept their hot form going by defeating the Rockingham Flames 93-79 at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

There were then four more big matches on Saturday night starting at Belmont Oasis with the Willetton Tigers making it four straight to move into top spot in the Women's Division beating the Perth Redbacks 82-75.

Sam Lubcke was again outstanding for the Tigers with 22 points while Alex Sharp had 13 points and 14 rebounds to help them overcome the 37 points for the Redbacks from Makailah Dyer.

The East Perth Eagles made four straight wins as well by defeating the Perry Lakes Hawks 83-71 at Herb Graham Recreation Centre.

Mary Goulding was outstanding for the Eagles with 29 points, 11 rebounds and seven steals. Mia Satie top-scored for Perry Lakes with 19 points.

Fresh off their first road win of the season on Friday night to celebrate the 500th game of Casey Mihovilovich, the Mandurah Magic backed it up with their best win of 2021 to beat the Joondalup Wolves 72-63 at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre.

Mihovilovich led the way as well with 17 points, seven assists, six steals and five rebounds in her 501st game while Kayla Steindl put up 19 points for the Lady Wolfpack.

The Kalamunda Eastern Suns then made it a double win weekend as well beating the Cockburn Cougars 66-53 at Wally Hagan Stadium.

Sam Roscoe top-scored for the Eastern Suns with 19 points to go with seven rebounds and Kahlia Morgan put up 15 points for Cockburn.

NBL1 WEST – 2021 WOMEN'S SEASON
ROUND 13 – SATURDAY NIGHT

PERTH REDBACKS 75 lost to WILLETTON TIGERS 82
The Willetton Tigers shot to the top of the standings in the NBL1 West Women's Division on the back of an impressive seven-point road win over the Perth Redbacks on Saturday night.

The Redbacks won their third straight match on Friday night to open Round 13 with a win on the road to the Joondalup Wolves, but it was always going to be another significant challenge against the Tigers on Saturday even on their home floor at Belmont Oasis.

That meant that both teams were actually on three-game winning streaks coming into the contest and you add in the long-time friendship and coaching bond between head coaches Simon Parker and Craig Allen, and it was always going to be a fascinating battle.

However, coming off Friday's home win over Rockingham, the Tigers kept that momentum rolling to come out roaring putting up 31 points in the first quarter while the Redbacks scored just 20 and were left to play catch up the rest of the night.

The Redbacks were able to stick with the Tigers the rest of the way but never really close the gap or threaten the comeback victory.

Willetton still led by 12 points at half-time, nine points at three quarter-time and then ended up winning 82-75.

The win improves the Tigers to a 9-2 record on the season to sit on top of the standings after 13 rounds as the only team to have suffered just the two losses in the NBL1 West Women's Division.

The loss ended the three-match winning streak of the Redbacks but they still hold on to a position secure inside the top eight with a 7-6 record after Round 13.

The star duo of Sam Lubcke and Alex Sharp were once again outstanding for the Tigers. Lubcke produced another 22 points and five rebounds while Sharp finished with 13 points, 14 boards, five steals and four assists.

Emma Gandini also finished with 13 points, eight rebounds, three steals and two assists while Hayley Winter had 10 points and six boards, Desiree Kelley nine points and four rebounds, and Taryn Priestly eight points.

Makailah Dyer had a huge night for the Redbacks doing everything she could to try and will them back into the contest finishing with 37 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists on the back of shooting 11/19 from the floor, 4/7 from deep and 11/11 from the free-throw line.

Captain Jess Jakens added 14 points and five rebounds for Perth with Raya Thompson finishing with seven points, Bri Bailey seven points, Denielle Ashworth four points and nine rebounds, and Maddie Allen two points, 12 boards, six blocks and four assists.

 

EAST PERTH EAGLES 83 defeated PERRY LAKES HAWKS 71
Nothing illustrates just how significant the growth in the East Perth Eagles has been in 2021 than Saturday night's 12-point victory at home to the Perry Lakes Hawks.

East Perth's struggles in recent years have been highlighted with some horror shows against the Lady Hawks who have largely been championship threats in that time with Deanna Black as coach.

But the Eagles have made a rapid jump this season under coach Blake Srdarev and that was once again on show as they played host to the Hawks at Herb Graham Recreation Centre on Saturday night.

Both teams were making their only appearances of the NAIDOC Round in the NBL1 West Women's Division and it was East Perth who started strongly with 22 points to 16 in the opening quarter.

The Lady Eagles stretched that advantage to 43-35 by the half-time break before then East Perth scored another 20 points to 12 from Perry Lakes in the third period to take control of the contest.

The Eagles would go on and record the 83-71 victory on their home floor which sees them rocket up to third position in the standings after Round 13 at 8-4 having now won four matches on the trot.

Reaching the playoffs is now going to take some work for a Perry Lakes team that did win the 2018 SBL championship and got to the West Coast Classic Grand Final a year ago. The Hawks have lost their past two to now be in ninth spot at 4-7.

The size and length of Perry Lakes helped them dominate the boards with 47 to 38 and 18 offensive rebounds to just eight from East Perth. But the Eagles knocked down 10/26 of their three-point attempts to outshoot the Hawks who went just 2/14 at 14 per cent from beyond the arc.

Mary Goulding delivered another standout performance for East Perth with 29 points, 11 rebounds, seven steals and three steals including connecting on 5/6 from beyond the three-point line.

Tahlia Fejo also put up 17 points, four rebounds, four steals and three assists for the Eagles, Opal Mader 10 points and three boards, Bree Fisher nine points and Eryn Fisher eight while BJ Moyes had eight points, four rebounds and four assists.

Mia Satie top-scored for Perry Lakes with 19 points, five steals, three assists and three rebounds as she continues her strong return from college while Millie McCarthy also had 15 points.

Megan McKay had nine points and 13 rebounds, and Nat Burton seven points and seven boards.

 

MANDURAH MAGIC 72 defeated JOONDALUP WOLVES 63
The Mandurah Magic backed up their Friday night win by making it a horror weekend for the Joondalup Wolves in the process with a nine-point home win on Saturday.

The Magic scored a breakthrough win on Friday on the road to the South West Slammers to celebrate the 500th game of the legend herself Casey Mihovilovich.

That was the first road win for the Magic in 2021 under new coach Vlad Alava as well but it was always going to be a big test at home to the Lady Wolfpack on Saturday.

The Wolves made the trip to Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre on the back of losing at home to the Perth Redbacks on Friday. That was their first loss at home in 2021 but Joondalup was still on top of the table as they prepared to face Mihovilovich and the Magic.

Joondalup started well determined to maintain their hold on top spot with the Wolves lead 23-19 by quarter-time and then outscoring the Magic with 22 points to 17 in the second quarter to go into half-time still leading 45-36.

The game took a dramatic turn after half-time and it went in favour of the Magic. Mandurah was able to hold Joondalup to just the seven points in the third quarter and 11 in the fourth.

At the same time, the Magic scored 36 points for the second half to turn the nine-point half-time deficit into the 72-63 victory to give them two wins this weekend and to improve to a 4-7 record on the season.

The Lady Wolfpack had only lost one game come into the weekend but now they have lost top spot with an 8-3 record following the losses to the Redbacks and Magic.

In her 501st game, Casey Mihovilovich once again set the tone for Mandurah with 17 points, seven assists, six steals and five rebounds.

Carly Boag added 15 points, 14 rebounds and four assists for the Magic, Rachel Pettit 15 points on 5/9 shooting from downtown, Rachel Halleen nine points and four assists, and Kelsey Brett eight points, four rebounds and three assists.

Kayla Steindl ended up top-scoring again for the Lady Wolfpack with 19 points and seven rebounds with Rebecca Benson contributing 13 points, Amber Land nine points and eight rebounds, and Nes'eya Williams seven points and seven boards.

 

COCKBURN COUGARS 53 lost to KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 66
The form turnaround for both the Kalamunda Eastern Suns and Cockburn Cougars continued on Saturday night with the Suns winning on the road by 13 points.

The Cougars had such a strong first half of the season in the NBL1 West Women's Division winning six of their opening eight matches while it was a slow start for the Eastern Suns losing seven of their first nine.

However, the Eastern Suns began Round 13 impressively with a win at home against the Warwick Senators on Friday night while the Cougars had lost their previous two matches against the Perry Lakes Hawks and Lakeside Lightning.

So that meant the Cougars were back home at Wally Hagan Stadium on Saturday determined to return to the winner's list while the Eastern Suns arrived keen to string consecutive wins together.

The Suns started well enough with 15 points to 11 in the opening quarter but the Cougars got going in the second term with 20 points to 14 to be leading 31-29 by the half-time break.

The offensive struggles of both teams continued in the second half but it was Kalamunda who worked their way on top including holding Cockburn to just the nine points in the third quarter while scoring 19 themselves.

The Suns then finished the job with another 18 points to 13 in the fourth quarter to come away with the 66-53 win to improve to 4-7 on the season to stay in the top eight race while the Cougars slipped to 6-5.

Winning the possession game was ultimately the major difference between the two teams with the Eastern Suns taking 10 extra field goals than the Cougars on the back of winning the rebound count by four and forcing Cockburn into 15 turnovers while having just 10 themselves.

Sam Roscoe is warming into the season nicely for the Eastern Suns with the Lakeside championship winning centre putting up 19 points and seven rebounds.

Ellyce Ironmonger added 12 points and 10 rebounds, Jewel Williams 11 points, six boards, four assists and two steals, Rebecca Motroni nine points and four rebounds, and Denae Civich seven points.

Kahlia Morgan finished with 15 points and three assists for Cockburn while knocking down 3/4 from three-point territory.

Molly Matthews added 11 points and five rebounds, Nicole Roberts nine points and six boards, Jodee Sontay seven points and five rebounds, and Emma Burke seven points and seven boards.