NBL1 West Recap | Women's Saturday Finals Week 1

The Warwick Senators made it 16 consecutive wins to earn the right to host a preliminary final in the NBL1 West Women's competition while the Cockburn Cougars and Rockingham Flames won on Saturday night as well to keep their seasons alive.

The NBL1 West Women's finals got underway on Friday night with a hard earned 81-70 qualifying final victory for the Joondalup Wolves against the Mandurah Magic.

That led into the rest of the first week of the finals in the NBL1 West taking place on Saturday night starting with an elimination final at Wally Hagan Stadium which saw the Cockburn Cougars fight hard to overcome the Perry Lakes Hawks 75-65.

Jessie Edwards proved the difference ultimately between the two teams delivering 23 points and 24 rebounds for Cockburn with Alina Hartmann adding 19 points and nine boards.

Emma Clarke put up 28 points, 16 rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots for Perry Lakes as their season comes to an end.

The second elimination final of the night was a heart stopper at Lakeside Recreation Centre and it was the Rockingham Flames who came away with the 76-73 road win against the Lakeside Lightning.

Mehryn Kraker made the clutch free-throws and then Rockingham got the stops when they mattered most to prevail with Patty Brossmann putting up 27 points and 12 rebounds, and Kraker 25 points and nine assists.

Ruth Hamblin did all she could for Lakeside with 27 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Ash Isenbarger put up 16 points and 15 rebounds in her 200th appearance for the Lightning.

The second qualifying final then took place at Warwick Stadium with the Warwick Senators making it 16 consecutive wins by beating the defending champion Willetton Tigers 96-84.

MVP Stacey Barr was terrific again in the win for the Senators against her former team with 25 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and four steals while Leone Fiebich was brilliant with 30 points, 14 boards, five steals and three assists.

Last year's MVP Alex Sharp put up 26 points, five rebounds and four assists for Willetton.

What that all means is that the semi finals will now take place this Thursday night with the Mandurah Magic at home to the Rockingham Flames, and the Willetton Tigers taking on the Cockburn Cougars.

The winners of those two matches will face the Warwick Senators and Joondalup Wolves respectively in the preliminary finals on Saturday night to determine the Grand Finals in the NBL1 West Women for 2022.

NBL1 WEST – 2022 WOMEN'S SEASON
WEEK 1 FINALS – SATURDAY NIGHT

QUALIFYING FINAL
WARWICK SENATORS 96 defeated WILLETTON TIGERS 84

It was the battle of the regular season champions and the reigning champs at Warwick Stadium on Saturday night between the Warwick Senators and Willetton Tigers.

The Senators closed the regular season on a 15-game winning streak to claim top spot while the Tigers finished off losing their last two matches to end up at 15-5 in fourth spot meaning they had to travel to Warwick Stadium for Saturday night's qualifying final.

The rights to host a preliminary final were on the line and it was Warwick who had the better of the start going on an 8-0 run during the first quarter to open up an 11-point lead, and to still be on top 31-21 by the end of the first period.

The Senators turned that into a 13-point lead to start the second term but the Tigers were able to work their way back into the contest to score nine consecutive points of their own to only be six points down by half-time.

Willetton was able to keep that momentum going in the third quarter too outscoring Warwick 27 points to 22 to even briefly grab the lead before the Senators clung to a one-point edge by three quarter-time.

It was then all the Senators in the fourth quarter as they piled on 26 points to 15 to end up winning 96-84 and move straight into a home preliminary final against either Mandurah or Rockingham.

Willetton still has another chance to reach the preliminary final by playing host to the Cockburn Cougars on Thursday night.

It was a commanding rebounding performance on the night from Warwick as they collected 53 boards to 33 to go along with taking 25 free-throws for the game to 12 from Willetton.

Senators coach Jonelle Morley has settled on a rotation with three bigs and three guards, and it's working a treat with Leonie Fiebich brilliant with 30 points, 14 rebounds, five steals, three assists and two blocks on shooting 11/17 from the floor, 4/6 from downtown and 4/4 from the charity stripe.

MVP Stacey Barr put up another 25 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and four steals with Chloe Forster contributing 20 points and five boards, Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard eight points, seven rebounds and five assists, and Nicole Jorre de St Jorre seven points, four boards and four assists.

Last year's MVP Alex Sharp did what she could to keep the Tigers in the contest with 26 points, five rebounds and four assists.

Desiree Kelley added 14 points and five rebounds, Tayla Hepburn 12 points, 10 boards and four assists against her former team, Hayley Winter 12 points and six assists, and Kiara Waite 10 points.

 

ELIMINATION FINALS
COCKBURN COUGARS 75 defeated PERRY LAKES HAWKS 65

The seasons of the Cockburn Cougars and Perry Lakes Hawks went on the line at Wally Hagan Stadium on Saturday evening.

The Cougars finished the regular season in fifth position with a 13-7 record to just miss a top four spot but to earn the right to host the elimination final on Saturday night against a Hawks team who finished eighth at 9-11 in Craig Mansfield's first season as coach but was without Sara Loomis for the contest.

The Cougars made a good start on their home floor attempting to keep their season alive and they went on to lead by as much 12 points in the first term, and to lead 29-18 by quarter-time.

Perry Lakes wasn’t going away, though, and the visitors were able to hold Cockburn to just six points the entire second quarter. The Hawks scored 13 themselves and by half-time the Cougars' lead was cut back to 35-31.

While Cockburn was able to push back out to a 10-point lead in the third term, Perry Lakes stayed close and going into three quarter-time it was just the Cougars clinging to a 56-51 advantage.

However, Cockburn had the better of the fourth quarter starting it out with a quick run of five points to go back up double-digits again and then to end up winning 75-65.

That means that the Cougars will now take on the Willetton Tigers on Thursday night in a semi-final while the season is over for the Hawks.

Cockburn dominated the glass with 61 rebounds to 42 for the night while also getting to the free-throw line for 21 attempts opposed to 13.

Jessie Edwards proved the major difference between the two teams with the Perth Lynx WNBL centre delivering 23 points, 24 rebounds and three assists in the win for the Cougars.

Alina Hartmann added 19 points and nine rebounds, Kat Tudor 14 points, seven boards, three steals and three blocked shots, and Jewel Williams 12 points, four rebounds and four assists.

Emma Clarke, on the back of deservedly being named to the All-First Team, put in a terrific performance for Perry Lakes ahead of now joining the Sydney Flames in the WNBL. She finished with 28 points, 16 rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots.

Ellie Newman added 11 points, Morgan Ballantyne 10 points and five rebounds, and Mia Satie five points, five boards and two assists.

 

LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 73 lost to ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 76

The Lakeside Lightning-Rockingham Flames elimination final always loomed as being a fascinating contest and it sure didn’t disappoint with the result only decided right on the final buzzer.

The Lightning might not have finished the season with the same coach they started with after somewhat of a tumultuous campaign, but they were still hugely talented and finished off in sixth position with an 11-9 record.

That saw them earn home court advantage for the elimination final against a Rockingham team who shook off a late losing slide to win their last two matches to finish seventh at 10-10.

The two teams locked horns at Lakeside Recreation Centre and at no point the entire night did either side manage to lead by double-figures highlighting just how little separated the two outfits.

It was Lakeside up by a point at quarter-time before scores were then all square at 39-39 by half-time.

While the Lightning did open up a six-point edge at one point in the third quarter, by three quarter-time it was Rockingham holding on to a 60-58 advantage.

That set the stage for a grandstand finish with a triple from Meryn Kraker pushing Rockingham out to a six-point lead early in the fourth term. Caitie Jones then responded for Lakeside but Patty Brossmann then nailed another to keep the Flames on top by six with five minutes to play.

A pair of free-throws from Paris Duffield then gave the Flames a game high eight-point advantage, but the Lightning weren’t going to throw in the towel and following an and-one finish from Ruth Hamblin, the home team was back within three.

Duffield then put Rockingham back up six against the team she won a championship with but Hamblin was continuing to come up huge for Lakeside and she responded with another three-point play.

In her 200th game, Ash Isenbarger then made it a one-point ball game once more with a minute to play. However, in the end clutch free-throws from Kraker proved enough for Rockingham with Hamblin and Isenbarger unable to hit late three-point attempts to force overtime.

The Flames went on to win 76-73 to set up a semi-final match up with the Mandurah Magic.

Patty Brossmann finished the night with 27 points and 12 rebounds for the Flames while Mehryn Kraker added 25 points, nine assists, three steals and two blocked shots.

Paris Duffield showed her championship experience with 10 points and two assists while hitting both her three-point attempts for the Flames while captain Ariana Hetherington contributed six points, five rebounds and two assists.

Ruth Hamblin capped off her standout first season for Lakeside with 27 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots on 10/19 shooting from the floor and 6/7 from the free-throw line.

Ash Isenbarger celebrated her 200th game for Lakeside with 16 points, 15 rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocked shots with Caitie Jones contributing eight points, eight assists and five rebounds, and Jae Flynn six points.