NBL1 West Recap | Women's Friday Round 9

The Joondalup Wolves and Willetton Tigers consolidated their positions at the top of the NBL1 West Women's competition with Friday night victories to open Round 9 of the 2022 season.

The NBL1 West season underwent a general bye last week for the WA Day long weekend, but the action resumed on Friday night with two impressive wins for the two teams sitting atop the standings coming into Round 9.

There was supposed to be a third game on Friday night as well but the scheduled clash between the East Perth Eagles and Warwick Senators was postponed seven days due to a fire at Herb Graham Recreation Centre.

The Friday night action for Round 9 got underway at Bendat Basketball Centre and the Joondalup Wolves kept their undefeated streak going with an 88-77 victory against the Perry Lakes Hawks.

Robbi Ryan delivered 21 points and seven assists for the Wolfpack and Teige Morrell 19 points and 14 boards. Emma Clarke continued her impressive form with 31 points for Perry Lakes.

The other Friday night match up saw the defending champion Willetton Tigers overpower the South West Slammers 95-66 at Eaton Recreation Centre.

Desiree Kelley finished with 18 points and six rebounds for Willetton with Tayla Hepburn adding 14 points and 10 boards. Tylinn Carter worked hard for the Slammers with 24 points and 13 rebounds.

 It all leads into a huge Saturday night in Round 9 of the NBL1 West season beginning at 5pm with the Joondalup Wolves at home to the Cockburn Cougars, and the Willetton Tigers hosting the Mandurah Magic.

Then at 5.30pm, the Goldfields Giants host the Perth Redbacks in Kalgoorlie before at 6pm, the Rockingham Flames play the East Perth Eagles and the Kalamunda Eastern Suns are at home to the Lakeside Lightning at 6.30pm.

The round will then wrap up on Sunday at midday with the Mandurah Magic playing the Perry Lakes Hawks at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre.

NBL1 WEST – 2022 WOMEN'S SEASON
ROUND 9 – FRIDAY NIGHT

PERRY LAKES HAWKS 77 lost to JOONDALUP WOLVES 88

The Joondalup Wolves continued their undefeated start to the NBL1 West season fighting hard to beat the Perry Lakes Hawks by 11 points on Friday night.

The Hawks were back on their home floor at Bendat Basketball Centre looking to make it consecutive wins, but it was always going to be a significant challenge against the undefeated Wolfpack.

Joondalup brought their perfect 8-0 record into the contest on the same floor they lost last year's Grand Final against the Willetton Tigers, and they started well against Perry Lakes going on an 8-0 run to lead by as much as 13 points in the first quarter.

The Wolves maintained a double-figure lead much of the second quarter but the Hawks did maintain in touch with Joondalup only leading 47-44 by the half-time interval.

The Wolfpack pulled away further in the third quarter, though, with a 14-0 run seeing their lead grow to 22 points, and it get as big as 24 during the fourth period.

Joondalup ended up winning 88-77 to improve to a perfect 9-0 record on the season while Perry Lakes slip to 4-5 as a result of the defeat.

There were plenty of impressive performers in the win for the Wolves with Robbi Ryan leading the way as point guard with 21 points, seven assists, six rebounds and three steals.

Teige Morrell was a strong presence down low with 19 points, 14 rebounds and five assists with Tia Ucich helping run the ship as well with 14 points, two rebounds and two assists while knocking down 4/11 from downtown.

Nes'eya Williams added 10 points, nine rebounds, three steals and two assists while Kiara Phillips finished with 12 points, three rebounds and three steals.

Emma Clarke continued her impressive form for Perry Lakes with 31 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals on the back of drilling 7/10 from three-point range.

Sara Loomis also had 13 points, four rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks, and Kate Williams 10 points.

SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 66 lost to WILLETTON TIGERS 95

The South West Slammers threw their best shot at the defending champions at home on Friday but the Willetton Tigers showed their quality to come away 29-point winners.

Both teams were missing a key player with Perth Lynx WNBL players Alex Ciabattoni and Alex Sharp not there for the respective teams with the Slammers hosting the defending champion Tigers at Eaton Recreation Centre.

The Tigers came into the game on a seven-game winning streak as well but the Slammers have been improved in recent weeks including winning their first game in three years a couple of weeks and snapping a 44-game losing streak.

The Slammers weren’t daunted by the challenge up against Willetton, though, and they fired back from an early 10-point deficit to score 10 points themselves to take a narrow lead, and then only trail by three points at quarter-time.

Willetton was able to pull away in the second quarter, though, going on a run of scoring 12 straight points to end up leading by as much as 23 and being on top 54-34 at the half-time interval.

It was more of the same from the Tigers in the third quarter with another 32 points to 15 to see that lead grow to 37 points by three quarter-time.

To South West's credit they did fight the game out strongly, but Willetton still cruised to the 95-66 victory to make it eight wins in-a-row to be hot on the heels of Joondalup at the top of the table. The Slammers remain in bottom place at 1-9 with the loss despite the encouraging signs.

Desiree Kelley continued her outstanding season for Willetton to lead the way once more with 18 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Tayla Hepburn grabbed her chance in the starting line-up in the absence of Alex Sharp with 14 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and two assists while Sam Lubcke returned from injury with nine points and three boards.

Tylinn Carter has made a significant impact on the Slammers since her arrival and she put together another strong showing on Friday night with 24 points and 13 rebounds.

Grace Adams added 16 points and four rebounds, Abbi Gibson 10 points and three boards, and Skye Palmer six points and three assists.