NBL1 West Recap | Women's Saturday Round 14

Danni McCray inspired the Goldfields Giants, Jewel Williams sparked the Cockburn Cougars, Stacey Barr spurred on the Warwick Senators and Alex Sharp came up big for the Willetton Tigers in Saturday night's NBL1 West action.

The Round 14 NBL1 West Women's winners on Saturday night were the Willetton Tigers, Warwick Senators, Cockburn Cougars and Goldfields Giants.

Round 14 in the NBL1 West Women's competition began on Friday night with the Lakeside Lightning beating the Cockburn Cougars 74-71.

The Joondalup Wolves stayed unbeaten with a 94-44 win against the Perth Redbacks with the Perry Lakes Hawks defeating the Rockingham Flames 77-69 and the Mandurah Magic downing the South West Slammers 81-56.

The Warwick Senators also made it 10 straight wins by beating the Willetton Tigers 76-67.

Then on Saturday night, the defending champion Willetton Tigers hit back after losing on Friday to Warwick by defeating the East Perth Eagles 100-59.

Reigning MVP Alex Sharp put up 24 points, seven rebounds and five assists for Willetton while Maria Blazejewski top-scored for East Perth with 17 points.

The Warwick Senators made it 11 consecutive wins and to maintain second position beating the Lakeside Lightning 90-56 at Warwick Stadium.

Stacey Barr produced another 28 points with four three-pointers for Warwick with Leonie Fiebich delivering 17 points, 14 rebounds, eight steals and four assists. Ruth Hamblin put up another 14 points, eight rebounds and two blocks for Lakeside.

The Cockburn Cougars bounced back from a loss on Friday and compounded the recent woes of the Rockingham Flames for the 94-82 victory.

Jewel Williams shone for Cockburn with 33 points, nine rebounds and seven assists while connecting on five shots from the land of plenty. Patty Brossmann had 21 points and eight rebounds for Rockingham, and Mehryn Kraker 20 points and seven assists.

The Goldfields Giants stayed in the playoff race by beating the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 75-51 in Kalgoorlie.

Danni McCray starred for the Giants with 30 points, 10 rebounds and six assists while Georgia Denehey top-scored for Kalamunda with 12 points.

NBL1 WEST – 2022 WOMEN'S SEASON
ROUND 14 – SATURDAY NIGHT

EAST PERTH EAGLES 59 lost to WILLETTON TIGERS 100

The Willetton Tigers took out their frustrations from Friday night with a 41-point road win over the East Perth Eagles on Saturday.

Prior to losing to the Mandurah Magic last weekend the Tigers' championship defence was moving along nicely with 11 consecutive wins, but then combined that loss to Mandurah with a loss on Friday to the Warwick Senators to open Round 14 and they'd slipped from second position.

The Tigers couldn’t afford another slip up against the Eagles at Herb Graham Recreation Centre on Saturday night, and they didn’t have one delivering a dominant showing.

East Perth was fresh off a win against the Kalamunda Eastern Suns, but taking on the defending champions was a different story with the Tigers going on a 15-0 run in the first term after falling down six to end up leading by double-figures.

Willetton were on top 19-11 by quarter-time and then the Tigers pulled away to a 19-point edge during the second term and were still in control 47-34 by half-time.

Another scoring run of 15 points for Willetton saw them further stamp home their dominance as the lead grew out to 32 points and by outscoring East Perth 31 to 12 in the third term, that saw the Tigers end up leading 78-46 by three quarter-time.

Another 22 points to 13 in the fourth term saw Willetton end up winning 100-59 to improve to 13-3 on the season to stay right on the heels of the second placed Senators. East Perth is now 4-12 following the loss.

Willetton outrebounded East Perth 55 to 37 for the night while they shot 48.2 per cent from the field to 30.8 while also taking 16 extra shots for the match.

Reigning MVP and Grand Final MVP Alex Sharp produced 24 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals for Willetton with Tayla Hepburn adding 16 points and four boards on 8/9 shooting.

Emma Gandini produced 15 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals for the Tigers while Desiree Kelley contributed 11 points, four boards, three assists and three steals, and Sam Lubcke 10 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.

Maria Blazejewski finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and three assists for the Eagles while Tahlia Kelly produced 13 points, four rebounds and four steals, Ellyce Ironmonger nine points and four boards, and Jorjah Smith eight points, four rebounds and three assists.

 

WARWICK SENATORS 90 defeated LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 56

The Warwick Senators backed up their win over Willetton on Friday night by dominating the Lakeside Lightning on the way to a 34-point home win on Saturday.

The Senators made it 10 consecutive wins by beating the defending champion Tigers at Willetton Basketball Stadium on Friday night so they had plenty of momentum coming into Saturday's clash with the Lightning at Warwick Stadium.

The Lightning arrived after a terrific win against the Cockburn Cougars at home on Friday as well to consolidate their hold on a top eight spot, but it didn’t take the Senators long to stamp their authority on the battle on Saturday night.

Warwick soon opened up a double-digit advantage before leading 20-10 by quarter-time.

The Senators went on another run of 17 consecutive points in the second term to see their lead grow to 27 points and they went into the half-time break in control leading 48-26.

It was another dominant third quarter from Warwick with another 25 points to 13 as the lead blew out to 34 points, and then it grew to 43 in the last term before the Senators eventually claimed the 90-56 victory.

The result keeps the Senators in second place having now won 11 straight at 14-2 while the Lightning are now 8-7 after splitting their matches this weekend.

The Senators ended up shooting 49.3 per cent from the field and 14/19 from the foul line while the Lightning went at 35.7 per cent from the floor but remarkably didn’t take a single free-throw the entire game.

Stacey Barr continued the form that has her right back in calculations for a second MVP award by producing 28 points, nine rebounds and four assists for the Senators on shooting 10/17 from the floor, 4/7 from downtown and 4/6 at the charity stripe.

Leonie Fiebich added 17 points, 14 rebounds, eight steals and four assists, Nicole Jorre de St Jorre 12 points and 10 assists, Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard 12 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals, and Nat Burton 10 points and four boards.

Ruth Hamblin finished with 14 points and eight rebounds for Lakeside with Jade Gowland contributing 12 points and five boards, Taryn Priestly eight points and five assists, Ash Isenbarger seven points, five rebounds and three steals, and Jaime Skeggs seven points and three boards.

 

COCKBURN COUGARS 94 defeated ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 82

The Cockburn Cougars bounced back from a Friday night loss and inflicted some more pain on the Rockingham Flames with a 12-point home win on Saturday evening.

Both teams arrived at Wally Hagan Stadium on Saturday coming off Friday night losses with the Cougars' huge comeback just falling short against the Lakeside Lightning while the Flames lost at home to the Perry Lakes Hawks by eight points.

With both teams losing touch with the top four but needing a win to still try and finish as high up in the top eight as possible a lot was at stake for the contest with the Cougars starting well to lead by seven early, but then the Flames got on a roll.

Rockingham caught fire to score 14 straight points and grab a seven-point lead which they took into the quarter-time break.

The Cougars were able to impressively turn the tide on their home floor in the second quarter by piling on 25 points and holding the Flames to just 12 which saw Cockburn head into the half-time break leading 43-37.

Cockburn kept that momentum rolling with another six straight points to end up leading by 14 and they maintained that advantage the rest of the way to end up winning 94-82.

It was a big result for both teams with the victory improving the Cougars to 9-6 after splitting their weekend.

It was a tough result for Rockingham with the Flames having lost four in-a-row now as they slip to an 8-8 record.

The Cougars ended up dominating on the boards with 55 rebounds to 36 for the night including 15 at the offensive end to seven. They also nailed 16/44 at 36.4 per cent from beyond the arc while Rockingham went 7/27 from deep at 25.9 per cent.

Jewel Williams had a standout game for the Cougars against her former coach Tom Knowles who was in charge of the Kalamunda Eastern Suns for her early seasons in the league.

Williams delivered 33 points, nine rebounds and seven assists while hitting 5/12 from three-point land and 8/10 from the foul line.

Alina Hartmann produced 23 points and 12 rebounds as well for Cockburn with shooting 5/9 from downtown while Jessie Edwards stood tall for 15 points and 17 rebounds.

Kat Tudor added 10 points and three rebounds, and Haylee De Sousa eight points and four boards.

Patty Brossmann top-scored for Rockingham with 21 points and eight rebounds with Mehryn Kraker adding 20 points and seven assists, Taylor Ortlepp 11 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals, Christina Boag 11 points, four boards, four assists and two steals, and captain Ariana Hetherington 10 points.

 

GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 75 defeated KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 51

The Goldfields Giants kept their hopes alive of reaching the playoffs in their maiden season with a 24-point win at home on Saturday over the Kalamunda Eastern Suns.

The Giants were back home in Kalgoorlie at Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium having won their past two matches ahead of hosting the struggling Eastern Suns on Saturday night.

It wasn’t until the second quarter when Goldfields was able to work their way on top though. When they did, they were emphatic about it opening up a 17-point lead by half-time to be up 43-26 at the major break.

By the fourth quarter, Goldfields had pushed their lead out to 26 points and they ended up winning 75-51.

For the first time in their inaugural season the Giants have now won three straight matches as they improve to 6-9 on the season to remain in a fascinating battle over eighth spot with the Perry Lakes Hawks.

It was a third straight loss for Kalamunda who now slip to 2-13 on the season.

Goldfields pulled down 60 rebounds for the game to 36 while shooting 44.3 per cent from the floor opposed to 26.7 and then getting to the foul line 26 times to 11.

Giants import Danni McCray produced her best performance of the season to play a starring role in the win with 30 points, 10 rebounds and six assists on 13/22 shooting.

That helped Goldfields still win despite the absence of Emma Klasztorny with Aimee Borchet adding 10 points and eight rebounds, Kiriana Hawaikirangi nine points, nine rebounds, three assists and two blocks, and Haley Waites eight points, nine boards and four blocks.

Georgia Denehey finished with 12 points and five assists for the Eastern Suns with Lexie Bland adding 10 points and two steals, and Shannon Johnson six points and nine rebounds.