NBL1 West Recap | Saturday Women's Round 7

Saturday night in the NBL1 West Women's Division saw the Perth Redbacks, Warwick Senators, Kalamunda Eastern Suns and Rockingham Flames all flex their muscles with impressive victories.

Round 7 in the NBL1 West Women's Division got underway with the lone match on Friday night and it was an upset win for the East Perth Eagles 75-58 against the Joondalup Wolves at Herb Graham Recreation Centre.

The Perth Redbacks were able to continue their impressive form on the road heading south to Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre to beat the Mandurah Magic 67-58 on Saturday night.

Makailah Dyer had another superb game for the Redbacks with 23 points and six rebounds while Casey Mihovilovich had 16 points and five steals as that 500-game milestone approaches for the Magic.

The Warwick Senators improved to a 3-3 record on the season with a 102-51 thumping of the Lakeside Lightning at Warwick Stadium on Saturday night.

Tayla Hepburn had 24 points for the Senators and Stacey Barr 23 points while no Lightning player managed to reach double-figures on a tough evening for the now 1-3 Lakeside.

The Rockingham Flames kept their winning form going after a first up loss this season by coming away with a 71-52 victory at home to the Cockburn Cougars on Saturday night.

Christina Boag had 25 points and 14 rebounds in another monster performance for the Flames with Tayah Burrows putting up 24 points and seven assists. Jessie Edwards had 16 points and 11 rebounds for Cockburn.

The Kalamunda Eastern Suns then made it consecutive wins with an impressive 109-56 thumping of the South West Slammers at Ray Owen Sports Centre to close proceedings on Saturday night.

Jewel Williams had 24 points and four assists for the Eastern Suns and Sam Roscoe 18 points and eight rebounds with Zaya Black putting up 21 points and four steals for the Slammers, and Jasmine Barrett 16 points and five assists.

Round 7 in the NBL1 West Women's Division isn’t quite done yet either with a Tuesday night battle to look forward to still between the Perry Lakes Hawks and Joondalup Wolves at Bendat Basketball Centre.

NBL1 WEST – 2021 WOMEN'S SEASON
ROUND 7 – SATURDAY NIGHT

MANDURAH MAGIC 58 lost to PERTH REDBACKS 67

The Perth Redbacks kept their strong start to the NBL1 West season going on Saturday night with a hard earned nine-point victory on the road to the Mandurah Magic.

It was only back in the 2018 season when these two teams did battle in a cracking semi-final series with a Grand Finals pot on the line, and Mandurah was able to pull off the upset win and there's still plenty of faces on either team that were there then.

That set the stage for a fascinating contest at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre on Saturday night with the Redbacks getting off to the hot start away from home.

On the back of splitting their road matches last weekend with a win over East Perth and loss to Rockingham, Perth came out inspired this Saturday night 22 points to nine in the opening quarter against the Magic.

It was a remarkable defensive performance then in the second period from the Redbacks to hold the Magic to just the four points for the entire 10 minutes. They scored another 18 points themselves to be well in control leading 40-13 by half-time.

To the credit of the Magic they fought back valiantly after half-time on their home court to outscore the Redbacks 45 points to 27. That cut the final margin to nine points but the Redbacks still won 67-58 to improve to 4-2 on the season while the Magic are 2-4.

It was a turnover heavy game with 45 of them between the two teams, and neither team shot the ball great with the Redbacks going 35 per cent from the floor and the Magic 32 per cent, but the Redbacks did enough for the win on the back of that huge opening half.

Makailah Dyer finished up with 23 points and six rebounds again for the Redbacks with Raya Thompson contributing 10 points, Maddie Allen nine points, six rebounds and four steals, and Denielle Ashworth eight points and six boards.

Bri Bailey ended up with another seven points, three steals and two assists, Jess Jakens four points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals, Shenae Hartree three points and three boards, and Sarah Allen three points and a steal.

The legend herself Casey Mihovilovich put up another 16 points, five steals, three assists and three rebounds for the Magic with Tori Ranson contributing 11 points and seven boards, Emma Klasztorny 10 points and four assists, and Carly Boag seven points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals.

WARWICK SENATORS 102 defeated LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 51

The Warwick Senators put together their most emphatic and complete performance of the season to beat the Lakeside Lightning by 51 points at home on Saturday night.

It had been a bit of an up and down start to the NBL1 West season for the Senators but they put it all together in impressive fashion on Saturday night at Warwick Stadium against a Lightning team that had no answers for them.

On their home floor, Warwick was on fire to start the contest putting up 29 points to eight in the first term which set the stage for the rest of the evening in what was a rematch of last year's semi-final match up in the West Coast Classic.

The Senators stretched their lead to 15 points by half-time and it was more in the same in the second half as they added 25 points to 16 from the Lightning in the third quarter, and 26 to nine in the last to end up winning 102-51.

It was quite the emphatic result and performance from the Senators as they improve to a 3-3 record on the season after Round 7 while the Lightning under new coach Dave Daniels are now 1-3.

The 2019 SBL MVP Stacey Barr had a terrific night for the Senators with 23 points, five rebounds and two assists while hitting 4/7 from three-point territory with Tayla Hepburn impressive down low with 24 points and six rebounds on 11/15 shooting from the floor.

Chloe Forster had an impressive evening too with 15 points and four assists while Caitlyn Jones contributed 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists, Nicole Jorre de St Jorre eight points, five boards and five assists, and Jayda Clark eight points and five rebounds.

No Lightning player managed to score in double-figures with Mikayla Pirini the best wight eight points. Kyrah Daniels added eight points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals, Jae Flynn seven points, Alecia Knowles six points, Ash Isenbarger six points and five rebounds, and Savannah Coleman six points and 10 rebounds.

ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 71 defeated COCKBURN COUGARS 52

The Rockingham Flames won the last SBL championship in 2019 and appear like they are going to be tough to stop again in 2021 in the NBL1 West Women's Division.

The Flames might not have that vaunted front court of Darcee Garbin and Maddie Allen that they did in that championship triumph two years ago under rookie coach Keegan Crawford, but they sure have started the NBL1 West season impressively.

Rockingham has a new coach in Tom Knowles and a host of new faces, and they kept their strong form going on Saturday night with the eventual 19-point win against the Cockburn Cougars at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

Rockingham started strongly at home to Cockburn leading 20-14 by quarter-time and then the Flames maintained their edge to head into the half-time break leading 30-23.

The game was well and truly up for grabs with the Cougars playing well in the third quarter to close the deficit to just the two points heading into the fourth. But in that final term, it was all the Flames as they put their foot down with 25 points to eight to come away with the 71-52 victory.

The result improves Rockingham to a 5-1 record on the season having now won five in-a-row while the Cougars are 3-2 following the first seven rounds of the NBL1 West season.

Christina Boag continued her early MVP calibre form to open the season with Rockingham by producing another 25 points, 14 rebounds and three assists on 10/19 shooting from the field.

College bound exciting young point guard Tayah Burrows was tremendous as well for the Flames with 24 points, seven assists and four rebounds with Zoe Richards contributing nine points and eight boards, and last week's hero Jorjah Smith six points and three rebounds.

Jessie Edwards toiled valiantly all evening for the Cougars with 16 points and 11 rebounds while Taylah Simmons finished with nine points and three boards, Haylee De Sousa eight points and three rebounds, and Molly Matthews six points and six boards.

KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 109 defeated SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 56

The new-look Kalamunda Eastern Suns are now building nicely early in the NBL1 West Women's Division season following a 53-point win over the South West Slammers on Saturday night.

It was always going to take some time early in the NBL1 West season under returning coach Craig Mansfield for things to click at the Eastern Suns, and for their group to come together.

But with the Lakeside championship duo of Courtney Mansfield and Sam Roscoe joining coach Mansfield in the move to the Suns in 2021 along with the ever reliable big Ellyce Ironmonger, and things are now coming together nicely for Kalamunda.

The Eastern Suns recorded their first win of the season last week at home to the Perry Lakes Hawks, and they backed up that with a strong showing once again this Saturday night against the winless Slammers at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

It was a flying start from the Eastern Suns with 27 points to 16 against the Slammers, before they stretched their advantage further in the second period to head into half-time in control leading 53-30.

It was an even more dominant third quarter from the Suns with 32 points to nine in the third quarter, and then another 24 points to 17 in the fourth and Kalamunda cruised to the 109-56 victory at home against the struggling Slammers.

Jewel Williams had a tremendous evening for the Eastern Suns with 24 points and four assists on shooting 8/14 from the field and 4/10 from three-point territory.

She had plenty of help too with Sam Roscoe delivering 18 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals for Kalamunda, Mia Jacobs 14 points, 10 rebounds, four steals and three assists, Amelia Gordon 10 points and four steals, and Ellyce Ironmonger 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Zaya Black fought hard all evening against the tide for the Slammers with 21 points, four steals and three rebounds with Jasmine Barrett adding 16 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals, and Imogen Van Iaere six points and three boards.