NBL1 West Recap | Women's Saturday Round 16

Stacey Barr delivered another dazzling performance to lead the Warwick Senators to a 14th straight win on Saturday night while the Perry Lakes Hawks took another step towards an NBL1 West playoff spot helped by the Mandurah Magic also beating the Goldfields Giants.

Along with the Saturday night wins for the Warwick Senators, Mandurah Magic and Perry Lakes Hawks, the Cockburn Cougars and defending champion Willetton Tigers also scored Round 16 NBL1 West victories.

Round 16 in the NBL1 West began with two matches on Friday night with the Perry Lakes Hawks maintaining eighth position by beating the Perth Redbacks 79-73. The Warwick Senators also made it 13 straight wins by beating the Cockburn Cougars 99-63.

That led into the five matches on Saturday night beginning at Wally Hagan Stadium with the Cockburn Cougars bouncing back emphatically to beat the South West Slammers 93-60.

Cockburn went 17/31 from deep as a team with Haylee De Sousa scoring 15 points, Jewel Williams 13, Kat Tudor 13, Kinley Paterson 12, Jessie Edwards 10 and Ella Summers 10.

Tiahna Sears delivered 21 points for South West with Tylinn Carter contributing 16 points, 12 boards and four steals.

The Rockingham Flames started on fire to give themselves a sniff at ending their five-game losing streak, but the defending champion Willetton Tigers had other ideas to come from behind and win 95-92.

Reigning MVP Alex Sharp ended up with 27 points, 12 rebounds and six assists for Willetton with championship winning captain Desiree Kelley adding 22 points and 10 boards.

Taylor Ortlepp put up 31 points and four assists for Rockingham, Mehryn Kraker 21 points and seven assists, and Patty Brossmann 19 points and 10 rebounds.

It might not have been a game that reached any great heights and the combined nine points in the first quarter tells a lot of the story, but in the end the Mandurah Magic got the crucial win they needed over the Goldfields Giants, 48-35.

The win consolidates the Magic in fourth spot and is a dagger blow to the Giants' finals hopes.

Alex Wittinger finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks in the win for Mandurah with Danni McCray delivering 12 points and 10 boards for Goldfields.

The Warwick Senators kept their dominant form rolling winning a 14th consecutive match beating the Lakeside Lightning 93-72.

MVP fancy Stacey Barr was phenomenal with 42 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals with Leonie Fiebich adding 15 points, 13 rebounds and six assists.

Ruth Hamblin put in a commanding performance despite the loss for Lakeside with 25 points, 17 rebounds and two blocks.

The Perry Lakes Hawks took another step towards locking in a playoff spot in Craig Mansfield's first season in charge as coach by beating the East Perth Eagles 85-64.

Emma Clarke delivered another impressive showing with 27 points with Sara Loomis adding 15 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots.

Maria Blazejewski finished with 19 points for East Perth and Jorjah Smith 15.

There is one more game to come in Round 16 of the NBL1 West on Sunday and that sees the Kalamunda Eastern Suns play host to the Goldfields Giants at Ray Owen Sports Centre from 11am.

NBL1 WEST – 2022 WOMEN'S SEASON
ROUND 16 – SATURDAY NIGHT

COCKBURN COUGARS 93 defeated SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 60

The Cockburn Cougars came back home on Saturday night determined to make up for 24 hours earlier and they took that frustration out on the South West Slammers.

The Cougars came into Round 16 of the NBL1 West season still an outside chance of nabbing a top four spot if they won their remaining four matches, but those hopes evaporated with a disappointing 36-point loss to the on-fire Warwick Senators on Friday night.

Cockburn then returned to Wally Hagan Stadium on Saturday evening to play host to the bottom placed Slammers and the Cougars regained some confidence.

The home team shot out of the blocks and finished the first quarter already leading the Slammers 24-11.

It was more of the same in the second term from the home side with the Cougars eventually putting together a run of 14 straight points to see that lead grow to 25 points, and by half-time they were leading 51-27.

South West did well to stick with Cockburn to limit the damage in the third period, but then in the fourth the Cougars pulled away again with another 23 points to 14 to end up winning 93-60.

The win improves Cockburn to an 11-7 record on the season after splitting this weekend with games now remaining against the Goldfields Giants and Willetton Tigers to close the season over the final two weeks.

The Slammers have now lost 10 straight at 1-17 with games to finish against East Perth and Mandurah.

The Cougars want to be the highest volume three-point shooting team in the competition and that was on show on Saturday night as they went 18/51 from long-range. The Slammers, in contrast, went 1/7.

Six Cougars players ended up scoring in double-figures led by 15 points from Haylee De Sousa on 5/13 shooting from beyond the arc.

Kat Tudor added 13 points, four assists and three steals with 4/9 shooting from deep with Jewel Williams also hitting 3/6 for 13 points and two steals.

Kinley Patterson added 12 points and eight assists, Ella Summers 10 points and three rebounds, and Jessie Edwards 10 points, three boards and two assists.

Tiahna Sears top-scored for the Slammers with 21 points and nine rebounds with Tylinn Carter contributing 16 points, 12 boards, four steals and two assists.

 

LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 72 lost to WARWICK SENATORS 93

The Warwick Senators continued their winning form going as the hottest team in the NBL1 West by beating the Lakeside Lightning by 21 points.

The Senators became the first team to beat the Joondalup Wolves this season last week and they then backed that up with a dominant 99-63 win against the Cockburn Cougars on Friday night to open Round 16 in the NBL1 West.

The Senators then took their 13-game winning streak with them to Lakeside Recreation Centre on Saturday night to take on a Lightning team having had a coaching change over the last two weeks and looking to finish as high up in the top eight as possible.

It was Lakeside who started the better on Saturday night on their home court as they went on a 12-0 scoring run to lead by 14 points, and then still be on top 30-23 by the end of the opening term.

Warwick worked their way back into the game during the second period by going on their own 10-0 run to grab the lead briefly, and then scores were all square at 46-46 by half-time.

The Senators were then able to flex their muscles during the third quarter by outscoring the Lightning 26 points to 12 to lead by those 14 points at three quarter-time.

Warwick cruised to the eventual 93-72 win from there to improve to 17-2 on the season as a result in second position while Lakeside missed a chance to move up the table now holding a 9-8 record.

Ultimately the biggest difference in the game was Warwick getting to the foul line for 26 free-throw attempts opposed to 12 for Lakeside.

Stacey Barr strengthened her push to win a second MVP award to go with the crown she won in 2019 with a scintillating performance for the Senators made up of 42 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals.

She shot 16/27 from the field, 4/7 from three-point territory and 6/7 at the charity stripe.

Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard added 19 points, eight rebounds and four steals, Leonie Fiebich 15 points, 13 boards and six assists, and Nicole Jorre de St Jorre eight points and two rebounds.

Ruth Hamblin put together a strong performance for Lakeside with 25 points, 17 rebounds and two blocked shots while shooting 11/13 from the floor.

Caitie Jones lined up for Lakeside against her former team and finished with 11 points, 14 assists and six rebounds with Ash Isenbarger contributing 19 points, and Sara Dickey 10 points, four rebounds and four assists.

 

MANDURAH MAGIC 48 defeated GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 35

It might not have been pretty, but the result in the end was all that mattered on Saturday night for the Mandurah Magic against the Goldfields Giants.

Mandurah hosted Goldfields at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre on Saturday evening with the Magic needing to keep winning to stay in fourth spot while the Giants also had to win to stay in touch for a playoff spot in their first season in the league.

That set the stage for a crucial match up for both teams but neither could really get going at any point highlighted by a first quarter where they combined for just nine points, with Goldfields leading 5-4 by quarter-time.

Things picked up slightly in the second period with Mandurah able to string seven points together to lead by four, and to still be on top 15-13 heading into the half-time break.

Finally the scored picked up and both teams exactly doubled their first half scores in the third quarter with the Magic putting up 15 points to 13 from the Giants.

It was then all Mandurah in the fourth quarter as they went on a 7-0 run to open up a 15-point lead and to end up winning 48-35.

It's a crucial win for the Magic and it gives them six straight victories to be in fourth spot at 14-4. It's a cruel blow to the Giants' playoff hopes as they dearly miss key starting pair Emma Klasztorny and Jemma Gatti with them now 6-11 ahead of playing the Kalamunda Eastern Suns on Sunday.

It was a rough offensive night for both teams with Mandurah shooting 29.3 per cent from the floor and 4/20 from three-point territory. The Giants went at 23.3 per cent from the field and hit 1/11 from long-range.

Alex Wittinger finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots for Mandurah while shooting 4/8 from the field and 4/4 from, the foul line.

Sarah Toeaina also had 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists, Aimee Brett eight points and three boards, Casey Mihovilovich eight points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals, and Carly Boag four points, nine rebounds and three assists.

Giants import Danni McCray top-scored for her team with 12 points to go with 10 rebounds and two assists with Kiriana Hawaikirangi adding five points and three steals, Elena Scafidi six points and three rebounds, and Amanda Wayment five points and 16 boards.

 

PERRY LAKES HAWKS 85 defeated EAST PERTH EAGLES 64

The Perry Lakes Hawks capped off a perfect weekend that could guarantee them a playoff position by beating the East Perth Eagles by 21 points at home on Saturday night.

Perry Lakes entered Round 16 in the NBL1 West locked in a battle over eighth position with the Goldfields Giants with the Hawks starting importantly with a 79-73 road victory against the Perth Redbacks.

The Hawks then backed up on Saturday hosting the Eagles at Bendat Basketball Centre and Perry Lakes started well to end up leading 21-15 by the end of the first quarter.

The home team then managed to open up a double-digit gap during the second quarter and went into the half-time interval on top of East Perth 41-33.

The Hawks pulled away further in the third quarter going on a 10-0 run to lead by as much as 21 points with that lead growing to as much as 27 in the fourth quarter before Perry Lakes went on to win 85-64.

The victory improves the Hawks to an 8-10 record on the season to close Round 16 just ahead of the Giants who are 7-11 in the race for eighth position with two rounds remaining.

Ahead of joining the Sydney Uni Flames for the upcoming WNBL season, Emma Clarke was terrific again for Perry Lakes with 27 points and two rebounds on shooting 9/20 from the field and 6/6 from the free-throw line.

Sara Loomis put together another 15 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots with Ellie Newman contributing 12 points and three boards, and Annika Renkema eight points.

Maria Blazejewski top-scored for East Perth with 19 points and five rebounds with Jorjah Smith adding 15 points and seven boards, Tahlia Kelly eight points, four rebounds and four assists, and BJ Moyes eight points, four boards and two assists.

 

WILLETTON TIGERS 95 defeated ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 92

The Rockingham Flames started on fire as they attempted to return to the NBL1 West Women's winner's list, but the defending champions hit back to snatch the three-point victory.

Willetton and Rockingham locked horns at Willetton Basketball Stadium on Saturday evening with the Tigers needing to keep winning to stay a top two chance while the Flames were attempting to snap a five-game losing slide.

Rockingham took up the challenge of the reigning champs to start on fire scoring eight straight points to open up a nine-point advantage by quarter-time.

The Flames kept their momentum going into the second term turning that 8-0 run into a streak of 12 straight points with the lead getting out to as much as 13 points for the visitors.

Willetton had to respond and the Tigers scored six points in-a-row of themselves to close the deficit to five by the major break.

Willetton then managed to work their way on top in the third quarter to lead by as much as six points, but Rockingham did well to respond again and regain the lead, and to be clinging to a 71-69 advantage by three quarter-time.

However, it was all the Tigers in the fourth quarter as they outscored the Flames 26 to 21 to end up winning 95-92.

The result means that Willetton moves to a 15-3 record to remain in third position on the standings just behind the Warwick Senators but also a game clear of the fourth placed Mandurah Magic.

It was a sixth straight loss for Rockingham who are now 8-10 and under pressure to miss out on a playoff spot altogether with two rounds remaining and games to go against the Perth Redbacks and Lakeside Lightning.

It was a remarkable rebounding dominance from Willetton with the Tigers pulling down 58 boards for the game to 28 including 24 at the offensive end to three. That meant Willetton took 14 extra field goals for the game.

Reigning MVP and Grand Final MVP Alex Sharp delivered 27 points, 12 rebounds and six assists for Willetton with Desiree Kelley adding 22 points, 10 boards, three assists and two steals.

Sam Lubcke added 18 points, 12 rebounds and four assists, Grace Foster 13 points with 3/6 long-range shooting, Emma Gandini five points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals fresh off signing on at the Perth Lynx for the upcoming WNBL season.

Taylor Ortlepp might still be commuting to and from Melbourne each week as she continues to prepare for an AFLW season with Carlton, but she was terrific for Rockingham again with 31 points while nailing 7/12 from three-point range.

Mehryn Kraker added 21 points, seven assists, four rebounds and three steals for the Flames, Patty Brossmann 19 points and 10 boards, Christina Boag nine points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals, and Ariana Hetherington seven points and three assists.