NBL1 West Recap | Women's Saturday Round 11

The Women's NBL1 West's top three teams the Joondalup Wolves, Willetton Tigers and Warwick Senators kept winning on Saturday night while the Cockburn Cougars hit back and the Kalamunda Eastern Suns snapped their losing slide.

Round 11 in the NBL1 West Women's competition began on Friday night with a brilliant overtime contest at Bendat Basketball Centre that saw the Rockingham Flames defeat the Perry Lakes Hawks 81-74.

The Kalamunda Eastern Suns scored their second win of the season and snapped a 10-game losing slide defeating the South West Slammers 84-70.

Imani Guy delivered 21 points and 15 rebounds in the win for the Eastern Suns while Tylinn Carter returned for the Slammers with 13 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Two in-form teams locked horns at Warwick Stadium and it was the Warwick Senators defeating the Mandurah Magic 85-77.

Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard had 21 points and nine rebounds for the Senators while Sarah Toeaina finished with 24 points, 11 rebounds and six assists for Mandurah.

The Joondalup Wolves maintained their perfect record this NBL1 West season beating the East Perth Eagles 105-70.

Robbi Ryan was remarkable for the Wolfpack with 39 points and 14 rebounds while hitting 5/8 from three-point range. Maria Blazejewski finished with 15 points and seven rebounds for East Perth.

The Cockburn Cougars returned to the winner's list in style beating the Lakeside Lightning 108-87 on the back of shooting 22/53 from three-point territory as a team.

Jewel Williams hit seven threes on her way to 32 points while Kat Tudor hit six for 20 points and Alina Hartmann four for 18. Sara Dickey finished with 29 points and six rebounds for Lakeside.

The defending champions had to fight hard against the competition's newest team on Saturday night at home but the Willetton Tigers just managed to execute enough down the stretch to beat the Goldfield Giants 77-73.

Sam Lubcke produced 25 points and nine rebounds for Willetton with Danielle McCray delivering 22 points, 11 rebounds and five assists for the Giants.

NBL1 WEST – 2022 WOMEN'S SEASON
ROUND 11 – SATURDAY NIGHT

SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 70 lost to KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 84

Both teams have found the going tough so far in the 2022 season but one of them was going to get a rare win on Saturday night and it turned out to be the Kalamunda Eastern Suns.

The South West Slammers were back home at Eaton Recreation Centre and did regain import Tylinn Carter and Perth Lynx guard Alex Ciabattoni for the occasion. It's no surprise the form of the team has largely depended on the availability of those two stars.

Coming into Saturday night's clash the Slammers and Eastern Suns had both won just once in 11 matches this season with the win for South West coming in stunning fashion on the road to East Perth with both Carter and Ciabattoni starring.

Meanwhile, Kalamunda's lone win under new coach Tim Rendulic came in the very first game of the season against the Perth Redbacks and the Suns had lost 10 straight since.

So one of them was going to enjoy that winning feeling again on Saturday night and it was the Eastern Suns who were on top 21-14 by quarter-time on the back of scoring eight straight points.

While the Suns did lead by double-figures at one point in the second quarter, the Slammers stayed in touch and were only six points down at the half.

Kalamunda started to pull away in the third quarter, though, going back up by 11 points and then they made sure of the win down the stretch in the fourth leading by as much as 16 points and to end up winning 84-70.

The Suns finished with 14 extra rebounds than the Slammers and shot the ball a little better at 44.4 per cent opposed to 38.6 per cent.

New arrival Imani Guy was playing just her third game for the Eastern Suns and she was outstanding with 21 points and 15 rebounds on 8/12 shooting.

Georgia Denehey added 18 points, five assists, four steals and four rebounds, Ella Thornton-Elliott 11 points and five boards, Lexie Bland nine points and three assists, and Eleanor Hartill nine points and 13 rebounds.

Tylinn Carter top-scored for the Slammers with 13 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals with Tiahna Sears adding 12 points and 10 boards, Alex Ciabattoni 10 points, five rebounds and three assists, and Skye Palmer eight points.

 

WARWICK SENATORS 85 defeated MANDURAH MAGIC 77

The Warwick Senators and Mandurah Magic both came into Saturday night's game in impressive form but it was the home team at Warwick Stadium who made a significant statement.

The Senators came into the game in third position on the standings at 9-2 and having won their past six matches while the Magic weren’t far behind at 8-3 and having won three straight including being fresh off impressive wins last week against Cockburn and Perry Lakes.

Playing at home, Warwick started the game on fire and raced to a 12-point lead and were still up 10 by quarter-time.

Mandurah would never be able to make up that gap enough to seriously threaten with another 10 straight points for the Senators in the second quarter saw them end up leading by 25 points, and to go into half-time on top 50-27.

The lead got out to 28 points in the third quarter and Mandurah has way too much quality and experience to play badly for four quarters, and they did put up 28 points in the fourth quarter.

However, Warwick did enough to hold on for the 85-77 win to make it seven in-a-row to continue to put pressure on the second placed Willetton. Mandurah lost a chance to secure fourth spot and now slips back to 8-4.

It was an impressive shooting night from the Senators who went at 50.0 per cent as a team opposed to 41.1 per cent from the Magic. They did shoot 13 fewer field goals but went to the foul line 12 extra times.

Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard put up 21 points and nine rebounds for Warwick while hitting 3/6 from downtown with 2019 MVP Stacey Barr delivering 20 points and five rebounds with four triples.

Nicole Jorre de St Jorre also had 14 points, five rebounds and four assists in her 428th game, Chloe Forster 14 points and four assists, and Nat Burton 10 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Sarah Toeaina continued her strong form for the Magic despite the loss with 24 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and two steals while Carly Boag finished with 15 points, six boards, four assists and two steals.

Alex Wittinger also had 14 points and 11 rebounds, Hannah Little 10 points and two boards, and Casey Mihovilovich nine points, six assists and six steals.

 

EAST PERTH EAGLES 70 lost to JOONDALUP WOLVES 105

The league-leading undefeated Joondalup Wolves had little trouble keeping their perfect record going with a 35-point defeat of the East Perth Eagles on Saturday night.

It was a big job for East Perth even at home at Herb Graham Recreation Centre as they attempted to snap a six-match losing streak against a Joondalup team yet to lose in 2022 and coming off reaching the Grand Final in 2021, and winning the championship in 2020.

East Perth made a good fist of it in the opening quarter to be within four points by quarter-time and having had a lead themselves of five points at one stage.

Even by half-time the Wolves were only on top 47-39 and the Eagles were keeping themselves in touch.

That wouldn’t last, though, with Joondalup going on a 9-0 run during the third quarter and opening up a lead of as much as 24 points.

That grew to 35 in the fourth term and the Wolfpack ended up winning 105-70 to improve to a perfect 13-0 record on the season. East Perth has now lost seven in-a-row to sit at 3-10.

Joondalup pulled down 52 rebounds to 33 for the game and 22 offensive boards to just 10 from East Perth which helped them to take 17 more field goals and to get to the foul line nine more times.

Robbi Ryan had a remarkable night for the Wolfpack with 39 points and 14 rebounds while hitting 5/8 from three-point range and 8/8 at the foul line.

Teige Morrell had another 23 points, 10 rebounds and five assists with Nes'eya Parker-Williams adding 17 points, nine rebounds, four assists and four steals, and Kiara Phillips 13 points and three assists.

Maria Blazejewski top-scored for East Perth with 15 points and seven rebounds while BJ Moyes had 13 points and seven assists, Jorjah Smith 12 points, four rebounds and three assists, Tahlia Kelly 11 points, four boards and three assists, and Ellyce Ironmonger 11 points.

 

COCKBURN COUGARS 108 defeated LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 87

The Cockburn Cougars clearly made the decision to live and die by the three ball on Saturday night, and it paid off as they knocked down 22 of them on the way to a 21-point win over the Lakeside Lightning.

Cockburn had lost its past two matches to the Joondalup Wolves and Mandurah Magic to have dropped from top four of the standings, and they returned to Wally Hagan Stadium on Saturday night to host the Lightning determined to bounce back.

Lakeside was also looking for a win to consolidate themselves further in the top eight while they also welcomed back Ash Isenbarger with the Perth Lynx WNBL leadership group member playing her first game of 2022.

The Cockburn focus on shooting from the three-point arc soon became obvious and it was starting to pay dividends especially with Alina Hartmann scoring all 18 of her points in the first half with four triples to help them to a 54-44 half-time edge.

The three balls kept firing and by the end of the evening guards Jewel Williams and Kat Tudor had attempted 32 of them on their own. 

Williams ended up knocking down 7/18 and Tudor 6/14 but when Tudor knocked down four of them in quick succession, the Cougars blew the game wide open and eventually cruised to the 108-87 victory against the Lightning.

Cockburn took 89 field goals for the match and 53 of those were from beyond the three-point arc. They knocked down 22 of them and shot at a terrific 41.5 per cent on the way to the crucial win to see them improve to a 7-4 record while Lakeside slips to 5-6.

The Cougars also collected 54 rebounds to 44 from the Lightning, and while they took 17 more field goals, the Lightning did shoot 30 free-throws for the game to eight.

Jewel Williams finished with 32 points, eight assists and seven rebounds for Cockburn with Kat Tudor contributing 20 points and nine boards, Alina Hartmann 18 points and five rebounds, Jessie Edwards 15 points and 10 boards, Ella Summers eight points and four rebounds, and Haylee De Sousa eight points and four assists.

Sara Dickey ended the night with 29 points and six rebounds with Ash Isenbarger playing her first game of the season and 190th of her career for 15 points and four rebounds while hitting 4/4 from downtown.

Ruth Hamblin also had 13 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots for Lakeside.

 

WILLETTON TIGERS 77 defeated GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 73

The defending champion Willetton Tigers might have eventually made it 10 straight wins but they had to do it tough at home to the Goldfields Giants on Saturday night.

The Tigers came into the clash at Willetton Basketball Stadium on a nine-game winning run on the back of winning last year's championship while in their first season, the Giants arrived on their first winning streak following wins against the Perth Redbacks and Perry Lakes Hawks.

Willetton did start strongly to open up a 14-point lead in the opening quarter and to still be leading 28-16 by quarter-time.

Goldfields were fighting hard, though, and even scored seven consecutive points in the second quarter and by half-time the margin was only eight points.

The Tigers did push back out to a 13-point advantage in the third quarter, but again the Giants fired back and it was still only an eight-point difference by three quarter-time.

Willetton again went up seven in the fourth quarter and while Goldfields still provided a couple of scares late, the Tigers clung on for the 77-73 win.

That means the Tigers have now won 10 straight with a 10-1 record this season while the Giants are 3-8 following the defeat despite the encouraging performance.

Sam Lubcke had a huge first half for the Tigers and finished the night with 25 points and nine rebounds on 10/15 shooting from the field.

Emma Gandini added 15 points, five rebounds and four assists, Alex Sharp 11 points, seven boards and four assists, Tayla Hepburn 11 points and four assists, and Imogen Ayliffe six points, five rebounds and two steals.

Danielle McCray finished the evening for Goldfields with 22 points, 11 rebounds and five assists with Amanda Wayment adding 20 points and 12 boards, Jemma Gatti 19 points and nine rebounds, and Emma Klasztorny 10 points and nine boards.