NBL1 West Recap | Women's Saturday Round 15

The game of the season loomed in the Battle of Joondalup on Saturday night in the NBL1 West and it didn't disappoint with the Warwick Senators handing the Joondalup Wolves their first loss of 2022 in the Women's competition.

Round 15 in the NBL1 West began on Friday night with the Perth Redbacks beating the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 89-62 while the Mandurah Magic defeated the Rockingham Flames 84-54.

Then on Saturday night, things got underway at Mirrabooka and the Mandurah Magic kept their hot form going beating the East Perth Eagles 80-62.

Carly Boag finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds for Mandurah with Alex Wittinger scoring 14 points, Rachel Pettit 13, Casey Mihovilovich 12 and Sarah Toeaina 11. BJ Moyes scored 18 points for East Perth to go with 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals.

The Cockburn Cougars ensured it was a 24 hours to forget for the Kalamunda Eastern Suns with the 98-74 win at Ray Owen Sports Centre on Saturday night.

Jewel Williams returned to her old home court for the first time to hit four threes on 25 points for the Cougars with Kat Tudor scoring 16 points, Jessie Edwards 14 and Alina Hartmann 12. Lexie Bland top-scored for Kalamunda with 29 points to go with seven rebounds, four assists and four steals.

The Lakeside Lightning scored an important 101-61 win over the South West Slammers at home on Saturday night to consolidate their top eight position.

Sara Dickey finished with 21 points for Lakeside, Ash Isenbarger 20 and Ruth Hamblin 18 to go with 14 rebounds. Tiahna Sears finished with 15 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals for the Slammers.

The Willetton Tigers put themselves right back in the hunt for a top two finish beating the Goldfields Giants 85-50 in Kalgoorlie on Saturday night.

Reigning MVP Alex Sharp was the standout for the Tigers with 22 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists and five steals with Emma Gandini adding 21 points and six assists. Danni McCray delivered 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists for the Giants.

The main event of the evening took place at Warwick Stadium with the Warwick Senators, on an 11-game winning streak, playing host to the Joondalup Wolves who remained unbeaten after 16 matches in 2022.

After a tough battle for three quarters, the Senators broke the game open in the fourth quarter to end up winning 83-66 to hand the Wolfpack a first loss for the season while winning their own 12th straight match.

Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard finished with 24 points for the Senators with Stacey Barr delivering another 19 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals. Teige Morrell top-scored for Joondalup with 17 points and nine rebounds.

NBL1 WEST – 2022 WOMEN'S SEASON
ROUND 15 – SATURDAY NIGHT

EAST PERTH EAGLES 62 lost to MANDURAH MAGIC 80

The Mandurah Magic kept their winning form going on Saturday night hitting the road to beat the East Perth Eagles by 18 points to give them two Round 15 victories.

The Magic were backing up beating the Rockingham Flames by 30 points on Friday night to open Round 15 in the NBL1 West as they made the journey all the way up north to the Herb Graham Recreation Centre to take on the Eagles.

East Perth was also coming off a drought breaking win last week against the Kalamunda Eastern Suns before losing to the Willetton Tigers, and it was Mandurah who started well opening up an eight-point lead during the first quarter.

The Magic were still on top 22-16 by the end of one but East Perth fought back hard in the second quarter to outscore Mandurah 19 points to 12 and to actually lead 35-34 at the major break.

Mandurah couldn’t afford to slip up as they look to sew up a top four finish and they responded in the third quarter going on a 9-0 run and to end up turning that one-point deficit into a 16-point advantage by three quarter-time.

The Magic then turned that into an eventual 80-62 victory to see them improve to a 13-4 record on the season having now won five straight. East Perth slips to 4-13 following the defeat.

Five Mandurah players ended up scoring in double-figures with Carly Boag leading the charge with 17 points, 14 rebounds, three assists and three steals on 7/11 shooting.

Alex Wittinger added 14 points, seven rebounds and three steals, Rachel Pettit 13 points, Casey Mihovilovich 12 points and seven assists, and Sarah Toeaina 11 points, nine rebound and three assists.

Experienced point guard BJ Moyes delivered 18 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals for East Perth with Tahlia Kelly contributing 16 points with 4/8 shooting from downtown, and Jorjah Smith 10 points, three boards and three steals.

 

KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 74 lost to COCKBURN COUGARS 98

The Cockburn Cougars got the win they needed to try and finish as high up in the top eight as possible with a 24-point road win over the Kalamunda Eastern Suns on Saturday night.

There was an added level of intrigue with both Jewel Williams and Jessie Edwards returning to their old home court at Ray Owen Sports Centre to play for the Cougars against an Eastern Suns team they started their careers with as teenagers.

However, it was a big ask for Kalamunda without Imani Guy and Georgia Denehey, and coming off a Friday night loss to the Perth Redbacks while it was a fresh Cougars team who arrived on a mission.

Cockburn turned it on in the opening quarter putting together nine straight points and to open up an 11-point lead by quarter-time.

The game was never in doubt from there with another 13-0 run from Cockburn in the second quarter seeing that lead grow to 29 points.

It was an even second half but the damage had been done and the Cougars went on to win 98-74.

That improves them to a 10-6 record on the season to still remain within striking distance of the fourth placed Mandurah Magic who are 12-4. The Eastern Suns are now 2-15 following the double loss weekend.

It was an incredible rebounding dominance from Cockburn with 63 boards to 39 including 28 at the offensive boards to 13. That helped the Cougars take 15 more field goals and three extra free-throws for the night.

Jewel Williams enjoyed her first return up the hill as an opposition player by delivering 25 points and five assists for the Cougars on shooting 9/14 overall and 4/6 from three-point land.

Kat Tudor added 16 points and three rebounds, Jessie Edwards 14 points and 14 boards, Alina Hartmann 12 points and 17 rebounds, and Haylee De Sousa nine points.

Lexie Bland rediscovered some of her early season form for the Eastern Suns with 29 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Marissa Pangalos added 22 points and four assists, Aisha Forrest 12 points and two assists, and Ella Thornton-Elliott eight points and three rebounds.

 

GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 50 lost to WILLETTON TIGERS 85

The Willetton Tigers went to Kalgoorlie and the defending champions delivered a commanding performance to beat the Goldfields Giants by 35 points on Saturday night.

The Giants came into the game on Saturday night at home at Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium against the reigning champs having won three games in-a-row for the first time, but their job was always going to be especially tough in the absence of Emma Klasztorny and Jemma Gatti.

The Tigers need to keep win to remain any chance of breaking back into the top two as well so they arrived in Kalgoorlie full of motivation and hunger, and as a result they started well to already lead 22-14 by quarter-time.

The Tigers then went on another 12-0 run during the second period and ended up outscoring the Giants 29 points to 11 to end up leading by as much as 26, and being on top 51-25 by half-time.

It was more of the same for most of the second half with Willetton's lead growing to 34 points in the third quarter, to 37 in the fourth and they ended up winning 85-50.

The victory improves the Tigers to a 14-3 record on the season to be hot on the heels of the 16-1 Joondalup Wolves and 16-2 Warwick Senators. The Giants slip to 6-10 with the loss and are locked in a battle with the also 6-10 Perry Lakes Hawks over eighth position.

It was a huge dominance on the glass from Willetton with them pulling down 55 rebounds to 34 for the game and 20 offensive boards to 10.

Reigning MVP and Grand Final MVP Alex Sharp was outstanding for the Tigers ending up with 22 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists and five steals on shooting 7/14 from the field and 6/6 from the charity stripe.

Emma Gandini added 21 points, six assists and four rebounds while Desiree Kelley contributed 11 points and 12 boards, Sam Lubcke 10 points and two rebounds, Hayley Winter nine points and five boards, and Kiara Waite six points and six rebounds.

Danielle McCray continued her season-best form for the Giants to finish with 18 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals with Amanda Wayment contributing 15 points, seven boards and three steals.

 

LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 101 defeated SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 61

The Lakeside Lightning couldn’t afford a slip up at home to the South West Slammers on Saturday night and they didn’t have one, ending up winning by 40 points.

It had been a dramatic week at the Lightning with the departure of coach Blake Srdarev which certainly caused some waves considering he was only 15 games into his tenure at Lakeside on the back of his Coach of the Year performance in 2021 at the East Perth Eagles.

The decision was made after the Lightning lost to the Warwick Senators by 34 points last Saturday night, but prior to that they had won three in-a-row including downing fellow playoff bound side the Cockburn Cougars just 24 hours earlier.

However, Lakeside still had a playoff position to try and lock away with Kate Oeij taking over as coach in what was a battle of two teams without the coach they started the season with, with the Slammers now under the tutelage of Robyn Vogel.

South West was able to stick with Lakeside in the opening quarter to only trail by four at quarter-time but the Lightning puled away in the second term with 23 points to 13 to go into half-time leading 52-38.

Lakeside then stamped their dominance throughout the second half with 28 points to 13 in the third quarter, and 21 to 10 in the fourth to end up winning 101-61.

The 40-point victory improves Lakeside to a 9-7 record on the season to remain solid in the top eight while the Slammers are now 1-16 having lost their past nine.

Lakeside collected 51 rebounds to 41 for the game while shooting 47.6 per cent from the floor compared with 35.8 and hitting 13/35 from three-point land opposed to 4/17.

Sara Dickey led the charge for Lakeside with 21 points on 3/5 shooting from downtown while Ash Isenbarger contributed 20 points, seven rebounds and two blocks.

Ruth Hamblin added 18 points and 14 rebounds, the returning Caitie Jones 14 points and six assists, and Opal Mader nine points.

Tiahna Sears top-scored for South West with 15 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals while Tylinn Carter contributed 13 points, four boards, four assists and three steals, Grace Adams 10 points and three rebounds, and Jasmine Barrett nine points and five assists.

 

WARWICK SENATORS 83 defeated JOONDALUP WOLVES 66

All eyes on Saturday night were on the Battle of Joondalup at Warwick Stadium and it was the Warwick Senators ending the undefeated run of the Joondalup Wolves to heat up the race for top spot in the NBL1 West.

The stage was set for a monster clash on Saturday night with the Wolfpack arriving at Warwick Stadium having won all 16 of their matches so far in 2022, but the Senators had the potential to seriously challenge them having won their last 11 in-a-row.

Both teams made runs during the first quarter with the Senators going up nine early but then the Wolves responded with their own 12-0 run to see the league-leaders head into quarter-time leading 22-19.

Things remained tight in the second quarter with the Senators outscoring the Wolves 21 to 20 which meant Joondalup still clung to a 42-40 lead at the half-time break.

The Senators then outscored the Wolfpack 18 points to 14 in the third term and that meant Warwick led 58-56 at three quarter, but the game was still well and truly up for grabs.

However, that didn’t remain the case for long with Warwick scorching Joondalup in the fourth quarter by going on an 11-0 run and outscoring the Wolves 25 points to 10.

That saw Warwick end up winning 83-66 to hand Joondalup their first loss since last year's NBL1 West Grand Final. The Senators have now won 12 straight to sit at 15-2 to be hot on the heels of the now 16-1 Wolves.

Perth Lynx WNBL forward Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard played a starring role for Warwick with 24 points, four rebounds and two steals while shooting 8/13 from the floor, 4/8 from three-point range and 4/4 at the foul line.

Stacey Barr also put up 19 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals for the Senators, Leonie Fiebich 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists, and Chloe Forster 11 points, five boards and four assists.

Teige Morrell top-scored for Joondalup with 17 points and nine rebounds while Robbi Ryan contributed 16 points, five boards and four steals, Chelsea Belcher 10 points, and Nes'eya Parker-Williams 10 points, four rebounds and three assists.