NBL1 West Recap | Women's Saturday Round 12

Teige Morrell dominated for the Joondalup Wolves, Sara Dickey caught fire for the Lakeside Lightning and that's just the start of the things to grab the eye from Saturday night's Round 12 NBL1 West Women's fixtures.

Round 12 in the NBL1 West Women's season began on Friday night with the Rockingham Flames beating the Perth Redbacks 90-68 at Belmont Oasis.

Then on Saturday night, the defending champion Willetton Tigers proved too strong at home to beat the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 101-53.

It was an 11th straight win for Willetton with Sam Lubcke delivering 23 points and seven rebounds with Imani Guy producing 28 points and seven boards for the Eastern Suns.

It was a terrific contest at Wally Hagan Stadium but in the end the Joondalup Wolves retained their perfect record this season beating the Cockburn Cougars 90-79.

Teige Morrell dominated for the Wolfpack with 28 points and 18 rebounds with Robbi Ryan adding another 18 points and eight boards with Jewel Williams finishing with 21 points and nine assists for the Cougars.

The Mandurah Magic made the journey to Kalgoorlie and bounced back from last week's loss to beat the Goldfields Giants 73-51.

The league's games record holder Casey Mihovilovich led the charge for the Magic with 17 points and three triples in her 522nd match. Danielle McCray top-scored for the Giants with 21 points and nine rebounds.

The Lakeside Lightning proved too strong for the Perry Lakes Hawks at their home court on Saturday night ending up winning 101-65.

Sara Dickey produced a standout performance for Lakeside nailing 5/6 from three-point territory for 30 points while Ash Isenbarger added 16 points, 13 rebounds and five assists. Emma Clarke produced 24 points and 13 boards for Perry Lakes.

The Warwick Senators then put on a hammering of the South West Slammers at Warwick Stadium, ending up winning 124-51.

Chloe Forster finished with 28 points for the Senators, Stacey Barr 23, Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard 23 and Leonie Fiebich 22. Tylinn Carter finished with 12 points and seven rebounds for the Slammers.

NBL1 WEST – 2022 WOMEN'S SEASON
ROUND 12 – SATURDAY NIGHT

WILLETTON TIGERS 101 defeated KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 53

The Willetton Tigers put together a complete performance despite the absence of the MVP on Saturday night to beat the Kalamunda Eastern Suns by 48 points.

Coming off winning last year's championship, the Tigers had won 10 straight matches this season after a first up loss to the Joondalup Wolves, but more often than not have been doing so by playing dominant periods but not putting together a full 40 minutes of basketball.

It was a different story at Willetton Basketball Stadium on Saturday night with the Tigers at home to the Eastern Suns who arrived having just won their second game of the season after a 10-game losing slide.

Willetton was also without reigning MVP and Grand Final MVP Alex Sharp, but it mattered little as they went on an 11-0 run in the first quarter before leading 25-11 by quarter-time.

The lead for the Tigers grew to 25 points during the second quarter and by half-time they were leading the Suns 49-28.

It was more of the same throughout the second half with Willetton scoring another 10 straight points to lead by 38 points in the third term. The lead grew to 48 in the fourth which was the final margin in the eventual 101-53 victory.

Willetton ended up collecting 57 rebounds to 36 for the night including 25 at the offensive end to 10 while also forcing Kalamunda into 29 turnovers. That led to the Tigers' taking 27 extra shots and nine more field goals on the way to the 48-point win.

Sam Lubcke continued her standout form for Willetton with another 23 points and seven rebounds with Desiree Kelley adding 19 points, seven boards, four assists and two steals while hitting 5/10 from three-point territory.

Tayla Hepburn added 17 points and eight rebounds with Emma Gandini contributing 10 points, seven steals, five assists and four rebounds, Eva Cooke nine points, and Sophie Maines eight points, three boards and three assists.

Imani Guy put up 28 points and seven rebounds in the loss for the Eastern Suns with Ella Thornton-Elliott adding 11 points and six boards, and Georgia Denehey nine points and four rebounds.

 

COCKBURN COUGARS 79 lost to JOONDALUP WOLVES 90

The Joondalup Wolves couldn’t shake the Cockburn Cougars most of the night at Wally Hagan Stadium but they delivered in the clutch to remain undefeated in 2022.

The Wolfpack arrived to Wally Hagan Stadium on Saturday night putting their undefeated record on the line against a Cougars team with plenty of firepower as evidenced by them hitting 22 threes last week in a 21-point win against the Lakeside Lightning.

The stage was set for a genuine challenge for Joondalup and Cockburn took it right up to them from the outset to end up leading 21-18 by quarter-time.

The Wolfpack then got rolling in the second quarter by going on a 13-0 run to open up their own double-figure advantage and to still be leading 43-38 by the half-time break.

The Cougars were still close enough at the half to cause the upset and still by three quarter-time it was just a six-point ball game in the favour of Joondalup.

Cockburn refused to go away too and when Alina Hartmann knocked down a three ball with two minutes remaining, suddenly it was just a four-point margin once more.

In the end though, it was Kiara Phillips who landed the two killer blows for the Wolfpack. The first saw her drop a three-point bomb with 30 seconds left. She then closed the game with an offensive rebound and the put back.

That saw the Wolves win 90-79 to improve to a perfect 14-0 record on the season while the Cougars slipped to 7-5 having suffered their first home loss of 2022.

Teige Morrell produced another dominant inside display for Joondalup finishing the evening with 28 points, 18 rebounds and four assists on 11/16 shooting and 6/7 from the free-throw line.

Robbi Ryan put together another 18 points, eight rebounds and three assists with Shani Caldwell 13 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, Nes'eya Parker-Williams 13 points, five rebounds and two assists, and Kiara Phillips 12 points and three boards.

Jewel Williams continued her impressive form as point guard for Cockburn with another 21 points, nine assists and five rebounds while hitting 4/10 from three-point range.

Jessie Edwards added 19 points and nine rebounds for the Cougars, Kat Tudor 16 points and four boards, Alina Hartmann 12 points and six rebounds, and Haylee De Sousa seven points and six boards.

 

GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 51 lost to MANDURAH MAGIC 73

The Mandurah Magic hit the road to Kalgoorlie on Saturday night and came away with the 22-point victory against the Goldfields Giants.

With the Giants needing a win to stay a finals chance and the Magic also needing to keep winning to maintain their hold on a top four position, it shaped as a fascinating Saturday night battle at Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium.

It didn’t take long for Mandurah to asset their control on the contest and it was the league's games record holder Casey Mihovilovich leading from the front.

The Magic raced to a 16-point lead in the first quarter before being up 23-10 by quarter-time. The lead grew to 20 points in the second term and still by half-time Mandurah were in control 44-26.

The Magic maintained their control throughout the second half to end up winning 73-51 to improve to a 9-4 record on the season to remain in fourth spot while the Giants slip to 3-9 with the defeat.

The better shooting of the Magic was the major difference between the two teams. Mandurah shot at 41.3 per cent from the floor to 28.6 while they knocked down 7/23 from downtown opposed to 1/16.

She might have been playing the 522nd game of her legendary career, but Casey Mihovilovich was the standout player on the floor finishing with 17 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals for the Magic while draining 3/5 from three-point land.

Alex Wittinger added 14 points and 11 rebounds, Sarah Toeaina 11 points, three boards and two steals, Rachel Pettit six points, and Hannah Little six points and seven rebounds.

Danielle McCray finished with 21 points, nine rebounds and three steals for the Giants while Jaya Scafidi had eight points, seven boards and four steals, and Emma Klasztorny five points and five rebounds in her first game against her former team she played 219 games with.

 

LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 101 defeated PERRY LAKES HAWKS 65

The Lakeside Lightnings strengthened their hold on an NBL1 West Women's playoff position with a commanding 36-point victory at home against the Perry Lakes Hawks on Saturday night.

The Lightning came into the game sitting in seventh spot at 5-6 with the Hawks in eighth at 5-8 so it was always going to be a significant match up for both teams at Lakeside Recreation Centre.

Even though Perry Lakes did start well away from home to lead by seven points early, it didn’t take the Lightning to begin to take over and by quarter-time they were leading 28-22.

The Lightning scored another nine straight points during the second quarter to lead by as much as 14 points and to go into the half-time break on top 52-38.

The dominance of Lakeside continued in the third quarter and at one point they strung together 19 points in-a-row to see their lead grow to 31 points.

The advantage got out to 38 points during the fourth quarter and in the end Lakeside went on to win 101-65 to improve to 6-6 on the side while Perry Lakes slips to 5-9.

It was an impressive shooting performance from the Lightning as they went at 50.0 per cent from the field while knocking down 17/31 from downtown at 54.8 per cent. Perry Lakes shot at 26.2 per cent overall and 18.4 per cent three-point land.

Sara Dickey put in another standout performance for the Lightning with 30 points, five rebounds and three assists on shooting 8/12 from the field, 5/6 from three-point land and 9/10 at the charity stripe.

Ruth Hamblin was a strong inside presence for the Lightning too with 19 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks with Ash Isenbarger marking her second game of the season with 16 points, 13 rebounds and five assists.

Jade Gowland added 11 points and three rebounds, and Jaime Skeggs nine points and four rebounds.

Emma Clarke finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds for Perry Lakes with Sara Loomis adding 14 points and two boards, Mia Satie six points and three rebounds, and Malia Tharpe six points and four boards.

 

WARWICK SENATORS 124 defeated SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 51

The Warwick Senators showcased their considerable firepower once more beating the South West Slammers by 73 points on Saturday night.

The Senators were back home at Warwick Stadium on a seven-game sinning streak hosting a Slammers team still having won just once so far this season, and the contest followed that form line.

Already by quarter-time Warwick had opened up a 22-point advantage before another 11-0 run in the third quarter saw that advantage for the Senators grow to 40 points.

The home team were on top 67-27 by half-time and it was more of the same in the second half with another 14-0 run for Warwick in the third term seeing their lead balloon to 56 points.

Another run of 12 points saw the lead get out to 73 and that's where it sat at the final buzzer with the Senators ending up winning 124-51.

Warwick ended up collecting 12 extra rebounds than South West while forcing the Slammers into 32 turnovers for the night which helped them take 17 more field goals and the Senators ended up nailing 20/39 from three-point land.

Chloe Forster top-scored for Warwick with 28 points, four rebounds and four assists on 10/13 shooting including 3/4 from the land of plenty.

Stacey Barr added 23 points, seven rebounds and seven steals, Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard 23 points, five rebounds and four steals, Leonie Fiebich 22 points, 11 boards, four assists, three blocks and two steals, and Hayley Alone eight points.

Tylinn Carter finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and three assists for the Slammers with Alex Ciabattoni contributing nine points and three boards, and Tiahna Sears seven points and 10 rebounds.