NBL1 West Recap | Women's Saturday Round 13

A ninth straight win for the Warwick Senators and the Willetton Tigers' 11-game winning run ending at the expense of the Mandurah Magic meant that the race for a top two NBL1 West Women's finish got all the more fascinating on Saturday night.

Round 13 in the NBL1 West continued on Saturday night with victories for the East Perth Eagles, Mandurah Magic, Goldfields Giants and Warwick Senators.

First Nations Round in the NBL1 West Women's competition began on Friday night with the Cockburn Cougars beating the Perry Lakes Hawks 77-75 while the Joondalup Wolves stayed undefeated overpowering the Rockingham Flames 76-73 and the Lakeside Lightning defeated the East Perth Eagles 76-71.

That led into Saturday night which started with the East Perth Eagles making up for that narrow loss the night before by scoring their fourth win of the season and ending an eight-game losing streak by beating the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 81-56.

Maria Blazejewski led the charge in the win for East Perth with 24 points, 14 rebounds and four assists with Ellyce Ironmonger enjoying her first victory with the Eagles with nine points, 16 rebounds, three assists and two steals.

The Mandurah Magic consolidated their hold on a top four position and ended the 11-game winning streak of the defending champion Willetton Tigers with the 95-87 win on their home court.

Sarah Toeaina put up 21 points, eight rebounds and five assists for Mandurah with Carly Boag contributing 23 points and eight boards in the win. Alex Sharp and Hayley Winter both scored 24 points for Willetton.

The Goldfields Giants and South West Slammers played their first of two games this weekend in Esperance with Goldfields proving too strong winning 87-56 for their fourth victory of the season.

Emma Klasztorny delivered 23 points, eight rebounds and five assists for the Giants with Danni McCray adding 19 points, eight boards and seven assists. Tylinn Carter top-scored for the Slammers with 17 points.

The Warwick Senators made it a horror weekend for the Rockingham Flames handing them another loss after they went down in heartbreaking fashion on Friday to the Joondalup Wolves.

The Senators won 94-79 on the back of 29 points and 10 rebounds from Leonie Fiebich and 21 points from Stacey Barr, and 19 from Nicole Jorre de St Jorre. Mehryn Kraker finished with 27 points for Rockingham.

The Round 13 NBL1 West Women's action wraps up on Sunday with the South West Slammers and Goldfields Giants again facing off in Esperance while the Willetton Tigers are hosting the Perth Redbacks.

NBL1 WEST – 2022 WOMEN'S SEASON
ROUND 13 – SATURDAY NIGHT

EAST PERTH EAGLES 81 defeated KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 56

The East Perth Eagles snapped their losing run in emphatic fashion on Saturday night with the 25-point victory against the Kalamunda Eastern Suns.

The Eagles lost a tight one on Friday night to the Lakeside Lightning to open Round 13 in the NBL1 West as they returned home on Saturday to continue First Nations Round against the Eastern Suns at Herb Graham Recreation Centre.

East Perth started strongly despite coming into the game on an eight-game losing streak with the Eagles scoring 11 straight points on the way to opening up a 21-12 lead by quarter-time.

The Eagles maintained that advantage and built on it the rest of the evening to end up leading by 15 points at half-time, 21 points at three quarter-time and to end up winning 81-56.

The victory snaps the eight-game losing slide for the Eagles as they improve to 4-11 on the season while the Eastern Suns now slip to 2-12 on the 2022 season.

East Perth pulled down 60 rebounds to 45 for the game while shooting 38.7 per cent from the field opposed to 26.3 per cent from Kalamunda.

Maria Blazejewski was the star of the evening for the Eagles with 24 points, 14 rebounds and four assists while Ellyce Ironmonger played in her first win since joining East Perth this season and delivered nine points, 16 rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Jorjah Smith also enjoyed the night against her original team with 15 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals while Tahlia Kelly was another playing her former club and celebrated NAIDOC Week with 13 points, five steals, four assists and three rebounds.

It was tough going for the Eastern Suns in the absence of recently arrived gun Imoni Guy but Lexie Bland top-scored with 14 points with Marissa Pangalos adding 11 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists, and Ella Thornton-Elliott 10 points.

 

MANDURAH MAGIC 95 defeated WILLETTON TIGERS 87

The Mandurah Magic heated up the race for top two positions in the NBL1 West Women's competition with their win over the defending champion Willetton Tigers on Saturday night.

The defending champion Tigers arrived at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre having won 11 straight matches since a first up loss in 2022 to the Joondalup Wolves, but the Magic were on a mission on their home floor.

After Emma Gandini drained a couple of early threes for Willetton, Mandurah soon worked on top and scored 12 straight points in the opening quarter to end up on top 29-25 by quarter-time.

It was still a tight contest by half-time, though, with the Magic only clinging to a 48-47 advantage.

It was still a close battle with Mandurah leading 66-63 at three quarter-time but eventually the Magic pulled away and made the big plays when they mattered most.

They scored seven straight points late in the piece to open up a double-digit lead to end up winning 95-87.

The victory improves the Magic to a 10-4 record to be closing in on the Tigers' second position with them now 11-2 following the loss ahead of taking on the Perth Redbacks on Sunday.

Mandurah ended up outrebounding Willetton 46 to 35 on the night while also forcing the Tigers into 19 turnovers while they shot 50.7 per cent themselves opposed to 44.8 per cent from the defending champs.

Carly Boag produced a tremendous performance up against the front court of Willetton to provide Mandurah with 23 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals while knocking down 10/14 from the field and 3/4 from beyond the arc.

Sarah Toeaina added 21 points, eight rebounds and five assists for Mandurah, Casey Mihovilovich 17 points, nine assists, four rebounds and two steals, Alex Wittinger 12 points and 10 boards, and Hannah Little 11 points, seven rebounds, four steals and two assists.

Hayley Winter finished the night with 24 points and six assists for Willetton with Alex Sharp putting up 24 points and 14 boards, Tayla Hepburn 12 points and five rebounds, Emma Gandini 11 points and four boards, and Desiree Kelley nine points, five boards and five steals.

 

GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 87 defeated SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 56

The Goldfields Giants and South West Slammers began their double-header against one another in Esperance on Saturday with the women from Kalgoorlie claiming the 31-point win.

The Giants and Slammers will be playing twice this weekend in Esperance as part of First Nations Round in the NBL1 West, and it was Goldfields who asserted their dominance early racing to a 24-10 lead by quarter-time.

Goldfields maintained that advantage in the second period going on another 10-0 scoring run to see their lead grow to as much as 23 points with them being in control 48-25 by half-time.

The Slammers stemmed the tide in the third quarter but they weren’t able to mount a serious fightback with the Giants pulling away again with another 22 points to 12 in the fourth term to claim the 87-56 victory.

The win improves the Giants to a 4-9 record on the season to keep them an outside chance of a playoff appearance in their maiden season while the Slammers suffered a sixth straight loss to remain in last place at 1-13.

Goldfields ended up shooting 41.6 per cent from the field opposed to 27.3 for the night while hitting 6/17 from downtown and the Slammers went 2/17. The Giants also had five extra offensive boards and 11 more rebounds overall.

Emma Klasztorny showed all of her experience in a strong performance in her 231st game in the league by putting up 23 points, eight rebounds and five assists while shooting 9/14 from the floor and 3/4 from three-point range.

Danni McCray added 19 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Giants with Elena Scafidi contributing 13 points and five boards, and Amanda Wayment 13 points, nine rebounds and three assists.

Tylinn Carter top-scored for the Slammers with 17 points and 10 rebounds with Bree Chalk adding eight points, Grace Adams eight points and four rebounds, Tiahna Sears eight points and 13 boards, and Alex Ciabattoni seven points, four assists, four steals and three rebounds.

 

ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 79 lost to WARWICK SENATORS 94

The Warwick Senators ensured it was a horror weekend for the Rockingham Flames as they scored the 15-point road win on Saturday night.

The Flames were on track virtually all night on Friday to hand the Joondalup Wolves their first loss of the season at HBF Arena until they lost in heartbreaking fashion in the dying stages.

Rockingham then backed up on Saturday hosting Warwick at Mike Barnett Sports Complex in a match crucial in the top four battle, and with both teams trying to stay in the hunt for a top two finish.

The Senators arrived on their own eight-game winning streak and showed why to lead 30-24 by quarter-time.

Warwick continued on during the second term going on an 8-0 run to end up leading by as much as 20 points, and to still be in control 57-43 by half-time.

There would be no real signs of a genuine fightback from the Flames that ever put the Senators in jeopardy with Warwick having all the answers on the way to the 94-79 victory.

The victory is a ninth in-a-row for the Senators who improve to a 12-2 record to be hot on the heels for second spot just behind the Willetton Tigers while the two Round 13 wins sees Rockingham drop back to 8-6.

Warwick ended up gathering 46 rebounds to 34 from Rockingham while they shot the ball marginally better going 45.1 per cent from the field opposed to 40.9 per cent.

Leonie Fiebich showed what a first-rate addition she is for the Senators by delivering 29 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 10/14 from the field, 4/6 from three-point territory and 5/5 from the foul line.

Stacey Barr added 21 points, six rebounds and four assists for Warwick, Nicole Jorre de St Jorre 19 points, eight boards, five assists and two steals, and Chloe Forster 12 points.

Mehryn Kraker put up 27 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals for Rockingham with Taylor Ortlepp contributing 16 points and seven boards, and Christina Boag 14 points but the Flames dearly missed star import Patty Brossmann for the second game this weekend.