NBL1 West Recap | Women's Saturday Round 17

The Mandurah Magic remained unbeaten at home in the 2022 NBL1 West Women's season and in the process knocked the Joondalup Wolves from top spot with one week to go in the regular season.

By handing the Wolfpack their second loss of the season, the Magic bumped the Warwick Senators into top spot while there were Saturday night victories for the Cockburn Cougars, Rockingham Flames, Lakeside Lightning and East Perth Eagles.

Round 17 in the NBL1 West Women's competition began on Friday night with the Joondalup Wolves defeating the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 110-58, the Lakeside Lightning beating the Perry Lakes Hawks 82-72.

Then on Saturday night, the Mandurah Magic produced a tremendous performance to hand the Joondalup Wolves their second loss of the season with the 93-70 victory.

Carly Boag put up 17 points and seven rebounds for the Magic, Alex Wittinger 15 points and seven boards, and Hannah Little 20 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.

Teige Morrell finished with 18 points, 11 rebounds and five assists for the Wolfpack.

The East Perth Eagles scored their fifth win of the season by delivering an emphatic performance to beat the South West Slammers 105-65.

Jorjah Smith shot 12/19 from the field and 4/8 from downtown for 29 points for the Eagles with Maria Blazejewski adding 22 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and three steals.

Tylinn Carter finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Slammers.

The Lakeside Lightning kept their strong form going with a second win in 24 hours by upsetting the defending champion Willetton Tigers 69-64.

Ruth Hamblin delivered another powerful performance for Lakeside with 16 points, 16 rebounds and five blocked shots. Alex Sharp put up 15 points, 14 rebounds and five assists for Willetton.

The Rockingham Flames snapped their six-game losing streak in emphatic fashion beating the Perth Redbacks 101-60 on their home floor and while wearing 30-year anniversary uniforms.

Mehryn Kraker put up 30 points and five assists for Rockingham with fellow import Patty Brossmann adding 21 points and nine boards. Mikayla Pirini scored 17 points for the Redbacks.

The Cockburn Cougars then travelled to Kalgoorlie and all but locked away fifth position and denied the Goldfields Giants a chance to move back into eighth spot with the 89-85 victory.

Kat Tudor was unstoppable for the Cougars hitting 10/13 from three-point range for 31 points. Amanda Wayment had 30 points and 12 rebounds for Goldfields, and Danni McCray 27 points, 11 boards, nine assists and five steals.

NBL1 WEST – 2022 WOMEN'S SEASON
ROUND 17 – SATURDAY NIGHT

MANDURAH MAGIC 93 defeated JOONDALUP WOLVES 70

The Mandurah Magic sent a message about their championship credentials this NBL1 West season handing the Joondalup Wolves their second loss of 2022 to the tune of 23 points.

The Magic put their undefeated home record on the line on Saturday night when hosting the Wolfpack at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre, and they sent quite the emphatic message.

It was Joondalup leading by a point still at quarter-time on the back of beating the Kalamunda Eastern Suns at home on Friday night.

However, Mandurah took control in the second quarter outscoring the league-leaders 29 points to 13 and going on an 11-0 run at one point to lead by as much as 18, and to be in control 53-38 at the half-time interval.

Mandurah then pulled away further in the fourth quarter with another run of 14 consecutive points to end up recording the emphatic 93-70 win.

The victory means the Magic have won all nine of their games at home in 2022 to improve to 16-3 on the season while the loss for the Wolves sees them fall below the Warwick Senators to second position on the table at 16-2.

The Magic finish their season back at home on Friday to the South West Slammers while the Wolves host the East Perth Eagles on Friday.

There was a lot to like in the win from Mandurah with Hannah Little producing her best game of the season with 20 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and two steals while hitting 12/14 free-throws in just 21 minutes of court time.

Carly Boag added 17 points, seven rebounds and three assists for the Magic, Alex Wittinger 15 points and seven boards, Sarah Toeaina 13 points, six rebounds and three assists, and Casey Mihovilovich 11 points and eight assists.

The Wolfpack did sorely miss import guard Robbi Ryan who this week was signed by the Perth Lynx for the upcoming WNBL season with Teige Morrell fighting hard for 18 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.

Tia Ucich added 16 points for Joondalup, Kiarra Phillips eight points, Laniesha Paddon eight points and four rebounds, and Nes'eya Parker-Williams six points and six boards.

 

SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 65 lost to EAST PERTH EAGLES 105

The East Perth Eagles returned to the NBL1 West winner's list in emphatic style on Saturday night beating the South West Slammers by 40 points.

The Slammers hosted the Eagles at Eaton Recreation Centre and it was an entertaining opening as the two teams combined for 53 first quarter points with East Perth leading 30-23 by quarter-time.

Both teams went on their own 10-0 runs during the second quarter and by half-time it was still a tight affair with the Eagles leading the Slammers 47-37.

East Perth then took over coming out of the half-time break with 29 points to 16 in the third quarter, and 29 to 12 in the fourth to lead by as much as 41 points before ending up winning 105-65.

It was a fifth win on the season for the Eagles while the Slammers have now lost 11 in-a-row to be stuck in last place at 1-18.

Jorjah Smith ended up with 29 points and four rebounds for East Perth on the back of draining 4/8 from beyond the arc with Maria Blazejewski adding 22 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and three steals.

Experienced point guard BJ Moyes also knocked down 3/5 from three-point land for 15 points, four rebounds and three assists with Kyana Weir adding 12 points and six rebounds, and Tahlia Kelly six points, six steals, five assists and three rebounds.

Tylinn Carter ended up with 22 points, 10 rebounds, four steals and three assists for the Slammers with Tiahna Sears adding 15 points and six rebounds, and Abbi Gibson nine points.

 

LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 69 defeated WILLETTON TIGERS 64

The Lakeside Lightning capped off a standout 24 hours to finish off a dramatic couple of weeks by beating the defending champion Willetton Tigers on Saturday night.

It's been quite the fascinating couple of weeks for the Lightning with the club parting ways with reigning Coach of the Year Blake Srdarev following a 34-point loss to the Warwick Senators which was just 24 hours after a strong win over the Cockburn Cougars.

Assistant Kate Oeij has taken over since with a win over the South West Slammers and loss to the Senators coming into Round 17, but on Friday night the Lightning were terrific away to the Perry Lakes Hawks winning by 10 points.

That gave the Lightning some momentum ahead of hosting the Tigers at Willetton Basketball Stadium on Saturday night, and they started strongly as a result going on an early 10-point scoring streak.

However, Willetton worked their way on top to lead by one at quarter-time and then still by three at half-time.

Lakeside managed to score 10 consecutive points again in the third quarter to assume the lead, and then outscore the Tigers 23 points to 19 in the fourth term to end up winning 69-64.

The win improves the Lightning to an 11-8 record on the season to remain a chance to finish fifth as they finish the regular season at home to the Rockingham Flames on Friday.

The loss just about knocks Willetton out of the top two running at 15-4 but the Tigers are still third before finishing against the Cockburn Cougars on Friday.

Caitie Jones is working back nicely ahead of the finals for Lakeside after missing four games through injury and top-scored with 18 points and six assists.

Ruth Hamblin was a dominant presence once more with 16 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks with Ash Isenbarger adding nine points and nine rebounds, Opal Mader eight points and seven boards, and Ruby Benn six points and six assists.

Reigning MVP Alex Sharp put up 15 points, 14 rebounds and five assists for Willetton with Sam Lubcke adding 12 points and eight boards, Hayley Winter 12 points and seven rebounds, and Desiree Kelley 10 points, six boards and four assists.

 

ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 101 defeated PERTH REDBACKS 60

The Rockingham Flames not only returned to the winner's list on Saturday night, but also got some confidence and momentum back ahead of the finals with a 41-point win against the Perth Redbacks.

The Flames came into the Round 17 clash at Mike Barnett Sports Complex having lost their past six matches despite still being locked into a playoff berth, and they were wearing special black-and-gold uniforms against the Redbacks to commemorate their 30-year anniversary of joining the then SBL.

Rockingham came out on a mission to stop their losing slide and quickly scored nine straight points and by quarter-time they were leading 29-14.

The Flames produced another 21 points to 14 in the second quarter to lead 50-28 at the half-time break.

The home team went on with it in the second half and it was party time in the fourth period as they fired up 33 points to 18 to end up winning 101-60.

The result improves Rockingham to a 9-10 record on the season before finishing away to the Lakeside Lightning while the Redbacks are now 5-13 with games next weekend away to the Warwick Senators and at home to the Goldfields Giants.

Rockingham shot at 52.9 per cent from the field for the night while knocking down 16/37 from three-point land with Mehryn Kraker putting up 30 points and five assists on 11/14 shooting including 5/8 from beyond the arc.

Patty Brossmann added 21 points, nine rebounds and three assists with Christina Boag delivering 13 points, seven rebounds and three steals, and Paris Duffield playing her first game since June 18 to hit four three-pointers for 12 points.

It was a rough night in what's been a horror season for the Redbacks after their semi-final appearance last year when Craig Allen was coach, but Parker Esary fought hard for 14 points and seven rebounds.

Mikayla Pirini added 17 points and three assists, and Jess Jakens 11 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals.

 

GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 85 lost to COCKBURN COUGARS 89

With Kat Tudor catching fire in remarkable fashion from downtown, the Cockburn Cougars went to Kalgoorlie and scored a hard fought four-point win over the Goldfields Giants.

There was plenty on the line for both teams at Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium on Saturday night with the Giants fighting for their playoff lives in their inaugural season while the Cougars need to keep winning to maintain hold of fifth position.

The Cougars worked their way to a 29-22 lead by quarter-time on their first visit to Kalgoorlie but the home team kept themselves close responding to an 11-point deficit in the second term to close the Cockburn lead to three at half-time.

Cockburn then pulled away again with 10 straight points in the third quarter to lead by 13, and despite a strong finish from Goldfields, Cockburn held firm for the eventual 89-85 victory.

The result improves the Cougars to an 11-8 record on the season to remain in fifth position with a game to finish on Friday at home to the defending champion Willetton Tigers.

Goldfields remains in ninth position now at 7-12 behind the 8-11 Perry Lakes Hawks. The Giants finish their season on the road to the Perth Redbacks on Saturday.

Kat Tudor delivered a stunning shooting performance for the Cougars finishing with 10/13 from downtown for 31 points.

Jewel Williams added 15 points and eight assists for Cockburn, Kahlia Morgan nine points and three rebounds, Jessie Edwards eight points, eight boards and four blocks, Alina Hartmann eight points and seven rebounds, and Kristy Whitefield seven points and four assists.

It continues to be a challenge for the Giants without two of their key players Emma Klasztorny and Jemma Gatti, but they fought had with Amanda Wayment putting up 30 points and 12 rebounds.

Danni McCray continued her tremendous form with 27 points, 11 rebounds, nine assists and five steals, and Elena Scafidi 15 points and eight boards.