Big double-doubles from Nes’eya Williams, Mary Goulding and Carly Boag, and 27 points from Sam Lubcke all led the Joondalup Wolves, East Perth Eagles, Mandurah Magic and Willetton Tigers to Saturday night victories.
They were four critical games on Saturday evening in the NBL1 West Women’s Division to close out Round 15 and in the end it was the Tigers, Eagles and Wolfpack maintaining their winning form as they continue to battle over top two spots while the Magic kept their finals hopes alive.
Round 15 in the NBL1 West Women’s Division began back on Thursday night with the Lakeside Lightning beating the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 81-75 at Ray Owen Sports Centre.
Then on Friday night, the Willetton Tigers defeated the Perry Lakes Hawks 70-59, the Joondalup Wolves beat the Lakeside Lightning 74-51 and the Rockingham Flames downed the South West Slammers 76-53.
The Warwick Senators also defeated the Cockburn Cougars 94-67 at Wally Hagan Stadium.
Then on Saturday evening, the Joondalup Wolves backed up to beat the Perry Lakes Hawks 69-63 at HBF Arena with both teams coming off playing the previous evening.
Nes’eya Williams top-scored for Joondalup with 16 points to go with 12 rebounds while Mia Satie had 22 points and nine boards for Perry Lakes.
The East Perth Eagles continued their winning ways too with a sixth consecutive win to keep strengthening their top two push with a 91-81 win over the Warwick Senators at Warwick Stadium.
Mary Goulding was just unstoppable for East Perth with 25 points and 21 rebounds with Tahlia Fejo adding 22 points while Stacey Barr put up 29 points, nine rebounds and five assists for the Senators.
The Willetton Tigers maintained their hold on top position with their second win for the weekend and seventh in-a-row by beating the Cockburn Cougars 79-64 at Wally Hagan Stadium.
Sam Lubcke put up 27 points for the Tigers in the win while Taylah Simmons top-scored for the Cougars with 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
The Mandurah Magic continued their improved form too to have won three of their past four matches now with a 79-61 win against the Kalamunda Eastern Suns at Ray Owen Sports Centre.
Carly Boag was huge in the win for the Magic with 18 points and 17 rebounds while Jewel Williams put up 18 points for the Eastern Suns.
NBL1 WEST – 2021 WOMEN’S SEASON
ROUND 15 – SATURDAY NIGHT
JOONDALUP WOLVES 69 defeated PERRY LAKES HAWKS 63
The Joondalup Wolves and Perry Lakes Hawks played out a tight affair at HBF Arena on Saturday night with the Lady Wolfpack coming away with the narrow win at home.
With the Wolfpack needing to win to keep themselves in a top two position and the Lady Hawks looking to stay in the top eight and to bounce back from losing to Willetton the previous night, it always shaped as a fascinating contest at Joondalup.
Perry Lakes came out starting strongly too knowing they are under pressure to hold that spot in the top eight with Mandurah and Lakeside hot on their hammer, and the Hawks put up 22 points to just 11 from the Wolves in the opening term on Saturday night away from home.
The Lady Wolfpack were able to turn the tide a little in the second quarter, though, with 24 points to 16 from Perry Lakes although the Hawks still clung to a 38-35 lead at the main break.
Joondalup turned that advantage further their way in the third quarter by limiting Perry Lakes to just the six points while scoring 18 themselves, and that saw them eventually go on and record the 69-63 victory.
The win improves the Wolves to an 11-3 record with their two wins this weekend while the Hawks lost twice inside 24 hours to now be 5-9.
Nes’eya Williams led the way for Joondalup with 16 points and 12 rebounds while Kayla Steindl added 15 points, six rebounds and three steals, Georgia Denehey 12 points and two assists, and Amber Land 10 points, three rebounds and three steals.
Mia Satie ended up top-scoring for Perry Lakes with 22 points and nine rebounds with Millie McCarthy contributing 14 points and three assists, Maddie Dennis 11 points and five boards, Megan McKay eight points and eight rebounds, and Nat Burton eight points eight points and three boards.
WARWICK SENATORS 81 lost to EAST PERTH EAGLES 91
The East Perth Eagles continue their remarkable resurgence in 2021 after yet another impressive win against the Warwick Senators on Saturday night.
It would be no disrespect to say that the Lady Eagles have struggled to be competitive in recent seasons in the SBL but this team of 2021 in the NBL1 West under the coach of Blake Srdarev continues to do some remarkable things.
That continued on Saturday night at Warwick Stadium as they won their only game of the weekend while the Senators couldn’t quite back up their big win over the Cockburn Cougars the previous night down at Wally Hagan Stadium.
East Perth came into the game on a five-game winning streak as they battle with Willetton and Joondalup over a top two spot, and they pulled away from the Senators in the second term.
It was a tight first quarter with East Perth leading just 26-23 by quarter-time before the Eagles put up 27 points to 17 in the second period to go into half-time leading 53-40.
That lead was able to be maintained through most of the second half by East Perth and they went on to score the 91-81 win over Warwick to make it six wins in-a-row for their 10-4 record so far in 2021 with five matches of their season remaining.
East Perth won the rebound battle 49 to 38 on the night while also shooting 47.9 per cent from the field opposed to 37.3 per cent from the Senators.
Mary Goulding had a monster night for East Perth to show just what an astute signing she continues to be with another 25 points and 21 rebounds to her name.
Tahlia Fejo hit 3/6 from three-point range on the way to 22 points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists while Eryn Fisher contributed 13 points and six assists, BJ Moyes 11 points, three rebounds and two assists, and Opal Mader 10 points, six rebounds and five assists.
Stacey Barr did all she could to try and keep the Senators in the contest with 29 points, nine rebounds and five assists despite her seven turnovers.
Tayla Hepburn also put up 20 points and eight rebounds for Warwick, Mackenzie Clinch-Hoycard 15 points, six boards, four assists and two blocks, and Chloe Forster eight points and four assists.
WILLLETTON TIGERS 79 defeated COCKBURN COUGARS 64
The Willetton Tigers kept winning and the Cockburn Cougars continued their slide after their clash at Willetton Basketball Stadium on Saturday night.
The Tigers came into the game on their home floor on a six-game winning streak including an impressive victory the previous night away to the Perry Lakes Hawks.
The Cougars lost the night before at home to the Warwick Senators and that meant that after starting the season impressively winning six of their first eight games, they came into Saturday night having lost four of the past five.
It was a tight start to the game as well with neither team able to break away through the first half with scores tied at 18-18 by quarter-time with Willetton only narrowly leading Cockburn 36-34 by half-time.
But the Tigers made their game breaking move in the third quarter by putting up 26 points and holding the Cougars to just 13 which was enough to set up the eventual 79-64 victory to give them seven wins on the trot to maintain top spot in the NBL1 West Women’s Division.
It was an aggressive Willetton team throughout the evening and their attack on the basket saw them rewarded by getting to the foul line for 33 free-throw attempts on the night while the Cougars only had 14 for the game.
Sam Lubcke was well held the previous night for Willetton by Perry Lakes but she made up for that against Cockburn by delivering 27 points and six rebounds.
Desiree Kelley added 16 points, four assists and three rebounds for the Tigers, Emma Gandini 12 points, eight boards, five assists and five steals, Hayley Winter eight points and five rebounds, and Alex Sharp eight points, 10 boards and six assists.
It was another tough outing for the Cougars with Taylah Simmons finishing with 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists, Olivia Bassett-Scarfe 12 points and five boards, and Molly Matthews nine points and six rebounds.
KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 61 lost to MANDURAH MAGIC 79
The Mandurah Magic continued their change to a playoff spot with an impressive 18-point road win over the Kalamunda Eastern Suns on Saturday night.
Both the Eastern Suns and Magic came into Round 15 of the NBL1 West Women’s Division on identical 4-8 records before Kalamunda went down to the Lakeside Lightning back on Thursday night at Ray Owen Sports Centre.
The Suns were back on their home floor on Saturday night to host the Magic too with both teams looking to win as they try to force their way into that eighth position that remains wide open.
It didn’t take long for Mandurah to blow the game wide open, though, with the visitors putting up 27 points to 13 in the opening term.
The Magic then held the Suns to just seven points in the second period while putting up another 25 themselves and the game as a contest was all but over by half-time with Mandurah leading Kalamunda 52-25.
The Eastern Suns might have outscored the Magic 41 points to 27 over the second half but never really seriously threatened a comeback with Mandurah cruising to the 79-61 win.
The Magic now improve to 5-8 on the season having won three of their past four matches while the Eastern Suns are 4-10 having lost three straight.
Carly Boag had a big evening for the Magic with 18 points and 17 rebounds on 7/11 shooting from the field with the remarkable Casey Mihovilovich delivering another 13 points, seven assists, four rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots.
Emma Klasztorny put up 12 points, two assists and two steals, Serika Shillingsworth 12 points and six rebounds, and Kelsey Brett eight points, four boards, four assists and two steals.
Jewel Williams put up 18 points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals for the Eastern Suns with Rebecca Motroni adding nine points and three boards, Mel Moyle six points and two rebounds, Denae Civich six points and Sam Roscoe six points, three rebounds, two assists and two blocks.