NBL1 West Recap | Saturday Women's Round 3

The Cockburn Cougars continued their impressive start to the NBL1 West Women's season with a big win over the South West Slammers on Saturday night with the East Perth Eagles also defeating the Goldfields Giants.

Round 3 of the NBL1 West Women's competition began on Friday night with four matches which included Casey Mihovilovich equalling the league's games played record by starring in Mandurah Magic's 67-48 win over the Perth Redbacks.

The Joondalup Wolves also defeated the Perry Lakes Hawks 83-66, the Lakeside Lightning beat the Rockingham Flames 103-101 in a high-scoring thriller and the Warwick Senators defeated the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 95-69.

That led into the two matches on Saturday evening which saw the Cockburn Cougars overpower the remarkably youthful South West Slammers 111-22 at Eaton Recreation Centre.

Jewel Williams continues to thrive in her first season with the Cougars putting up 25 points with Tia Morgan adding 25 as well and Jessie Edwards 14 points and 14 rebounds.
Bree Chalk had six points for the Slammers.

The second match on Saturday night saw the East Perth Eagles defeat the Goldfields Giants 78-62 at Herb Graham Recreation Centre.

Maria Blazejewski top-scored for the Eagles with 26 points and eight assist with Jorjah Smith hitting five threes on the way to 19 points. Former Mandurah 219-game veteran Emma Klasztorny put up 24 points and eight rebounds for the Giants.

Round 3 in the NBL1 West Women's competition continues on Sunday with the Cockburn Cougars hosting the Goldfields Giants at Wally Hagan Stadium from 11am.

The final game of the round then takes place on Monday with the annual ANZAC Day fixture between the Kalamunda Eastern Suns and Willetton Tigers at Ray Owen Sports Centre from 1pm.

NBL1 WEST – 2022 WOMEN'S SEASON
ROUND 3 – SATURDAY NIGHT

SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 22 lost to COCKBURN COUGARS 111

The South West Slammers and Cockburn Cougars did battle to open the Saturday night action in Round 3 at Eaton Recreation Centre, and the visitors bounce back from a loss back on Easter Thursday.

The Cougars lost a tight one to the defending champion Willetton Tigers back on Easter Thursday so they were looking to bounce on the road to the Slammers on Saturday night.

South West had opened the new season losing to the Perth Redbacks by 37 points and the Rockingham Flames by 64 points, and it always appeared a tall order for them up against a Cockburn team looking to be a genuine contender in 2022.

That proved to be exactly the case with the Cougars asserting their authority over the youthful Slammers.

Cockburn put up 26 points in the opening quarter to eight from the Slammers before adding another 24 points and with the Slammers managing just two.

That saw the Cougars lead 50-10 by half-time and it was a similar story in the second half with another 30 points to eight in the third term, and 31 to four in the fourth.

That saw the Cougars end up winning 111-22 with Cockburn finishing with 65 rebounds to 37 including 32 at the offensive end to nine. 

They forced the Slammers into an eye-catching 44 turnovers while the home team shot just 7/45 from the field at 15.6 per cent. The Cougars took 52 extra field goals and took 12 more free-throws by the finish. 

Jewel Williams is enjoying her new life so far this season at the Cougars putting up 25 points, four steals, three rebounds and two assists on Saturday night while Tia Morgan delivered 25 points, five steals, four rebounds and four assists.

Jessie Edwards also finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds for Cockburn, Kat Tudor 11 points, eight boards, four assists and four steals, and Ella Summers eight points and eight rebounds.

Bree Chalk top-scored for the Slammers with six points with Javene Fitch adding five points and four rebounds, Abbey Hall four points and four boards, and Skye Palmer four points, two assists and two steals.

EAST PERTH EAGLES 78 defeated GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 62

Both the East Perth Eagles and Goldfields Giants were hunting their first wins of the NBL1 West season when they did battle on Saturday evening at Herb Graham Recreation Centre.

After their breakthrough season in 2021, it was an off-season of great change at the Eagles and they opened 2022 with losses to the Cockburn Cougars and Perry Lakes Hawks.

Meanwhile, the Giants are in their inaugural NBL1 West season and lost narrowly at home in Round 1 to the Lakeside Lightning and this was their first ever road game as they chase that first victory in the competition.

With both teams hunting their first win of 2022, it was the Eagles who started impressively on their home floor with 26 points to 18 in the opening quarter.

That first quarter buffer East Perth built up ended up being the difference in the game with the Eagles going into half-time leading 57-47. They added another 21 points to 13 in the fourth quarter and that saw East Perth claim their first win of the season, beating the Giants 78-62.

It was a fighting performance from the Giants as they pulled down 47 rebounds to 38 from the Eagles including 18 at the offensive end to nine.

Ultimately, though, Goldfields had 22 turnovers for the game and shot just 31.9 per cent from the floor opposed to 43.3 from East Perth on their way to the 16-point victory.

Maria Blazejewski produced an outstanding performance in the win for the Eagles with 26 points, eight assists, five rebounds and two blocked shots on 8/15 shooting from the floor and 9/9 from the foul line.

Jorjah Smith added 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists as well for East Perth while knocking down 5/9 from three-point territory while BJ Moyes added 17 points, six rebounds and three assists, and Tahlia Kelly six points, four assists and three steals.

Emma Klasztorny is providing for the Giants what she did at the Mandurah Magic for her 219-game career and finished Saturday night's game with 24 points, eight rebounds and four steals.

Danielle McCray added 16 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals for Goldfields, Haley Waites six points and three assists, and Jemma Gatti five points and six rebounds.