The Willetton Tigers consolidated top spot in the NBL1 West Women’s Division on Saturday night while the Joondalup Wolves kept the pressure on and the Perth Redbacks scored an important win.
The Tigers and Wolves maintained their top two positions with hard earned win on Saturday night in Round 14 of the NBL1 West Women’s Division while the Redbacks kept in touch for a top four finish by also recording a victory.
Round 14 of the 2021 season got underway with three matches on Friday night which saw the Cockburn Cougars defeat the South West Slammers 94-38, the Perry Lakes Hawks down the Lakeside Lightning 89-72 and the East Perth Eagles maintain their hot form beating Kalamunda Eastern Suns 72-60.
That led into three more matches on Saturday night beginning at Belmont Oasis with the Perth Redbacks defeating the Lakeside Lightning 84-62.
The Redbacks dominated the second half with 45 points to 26 with Bri Bailey hitting seven three-pointers on the way to 21 points while Makailah Dyer had 20 points and 14 rebounds, and Maddie Allen pulled in 17 boards.
Emma Clarke returned for Lakeside with 10 points while Ash Isenbarger scored 18 points while going 4/17 from three-point land.
The Joondalup Wolves needed a win to hold out East Perth from taking its top two position and the Lady Wolfpack defeated the Warwick Senators 94-85 at HBF Arena.
Kayla Steindl was the star of the night for Joondalup with 30 points and 11 rebounds with Stacey Barr putting up 28 points for the Senators.
The Willetton Tigers overpowered the Mandurah Magic to maintain top position with the 74-55 victory at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre.
Alex Sharp had 22 points and 12 rebounds for Willetton with Emma Gandini contributing 18 points and four assists while Carly Boag and Casey Mihovilovich had 14 points each for the Magic.
NBL1 WEST – 2021 WOMEN’S SEASON
ROUND 14 – SATURDAY NIGHT
PERTH REDBACKS 84 defeated LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 62
The Perth Redbacks flexed their muscles to go a long way to securing a top eight position in the NBL1 West Women’s Division after Saturday night’s win over the Lakeside Lightning.
It was the only game for the Redbacks of Round 14 in the NBL1 West competition while the Lightning were coming off a loss at home against the Perry Lakes Hawks on Friday night.
That meant that coming into Saturday’s clash at Belmont Oasis that the Redbacks had a chance to further consolidate their spot in the top eight while the Lightning needed a win to avoid falling out of touch with eighth spot.
And for three quarters little separated the two teams and it was a tight and tense battle with what was at stake.
The Lightning welcomed back Emma Clarke to provide a big body and important experience, and that helped them stick with the Redbacks throughout the opening three quarters.
Scores were tied by quarter-time before the Redbacks put up 26 points to 21 in the second quarter to see them lead the Lightning 41-36 by the half-time break.
Lakeside stuck with Perth further in the third quarter to cut the deficit to just three points by three quarter-time, but it was all the Redbacks in the fourth period.
The Redbacks were able to pile on 27 points in that final quarter while holding the Lightning to just eight to end up winning 84-62.
The result improves the Redbacks to an 8-6 record on the season in seventh spot and still to be a chance of the top four. The Lightning’s playoff hopes took a big hit with the two losses on the weekend with them slipping down to the 10th position at 4-8.
Neither team shot the ball all that great meaning there were plenty of rebounds to go around with the Redbacks pulling in 67 of them to 50 from the Lightning.
Ultimately the difference was that shooting especially from beyond the arc with Perth able to knock down 12/34 at 35 per cent while the Lightning only managed 6/41 at 15 per cent.
Makailah Dyer was a strong performer once again for the Redbacks to continue her impressive form with 20 points, 14 rebounds and five assists, but it was Bri Bailey who top-scored with 21 points, four rebounds and four assists while hitting 7/17 from downtown.
Denielle Ashworth contributed 12 points, five rebounds and three steals, Jess Jakens 11 points, eight boards and four assists, Shenae Hartree eight points and five rebounds, and Maddie Allen six points, 17 boards, six assists and three blocked shots.
Ash Isenbarger top-scored once more for Lakeside with 18 points to go with seven rebounds, three steals and two blocks. She wasn’t shy with throwing up the three balls either going for 4/17 on the back of going 1/12 the night before.
Jae Flynn added 11 points and four rebounds for the Lightning, Emma Clarke 10 points and four boards, and Kyrah Daniels six points, eight rebounds and three steals.
JOONDALUP WOLVES 94 defeated WARWICK SENATORS 85
The Joondalup Wolves maintained their top two position in the NBL1 West Women’s Division with a hard fought win over the Warwick Senators on Saturday night.
With the Lady Wolfpack needing to keep winning to retain their top two spot and then the Senators also needing to win as they tried to stay in contention for a top four position, the stage was set for a terrific Saturday contest at HBF Arena.
Both teams were coming off a loss as well with the Wolves losing twice last weekend to the Perth Redbacks and Mandurah Magic while the Senators had lost to the Eastern Suns which only added to the intrigue of the match up.
It was a terrific opening to the game too at HBF Arena with 51 points between the two teams in the first quarter with Warwick leading Joondalup 26-25 by quarter-time.
The Lady Wolfpack were able to work their way on top during the second quarter, though, with 25 points to 17 from the Senators and that saw them take a 50-43 advantage into the half-time break.
The Wolves maintained that edge throughout the second half and would end up winning 94-85 to snap their two-game losing run to maintain their hold on second position with a 9-3 record.
The Senators slipped to fifth spot with their second consecutive loss with their 7-5 record.
Kayla Steindl had a monster night for the Lady Wolfpack with 30 points, 11 rebounds, three steals and two assists including shooting 3/6 from three-point territory.
Nes’eya Williams added 12 points and six rebounds for Joondalup, Tia Ucich 12 points and five assists, Rebecca Benson 12 points, four boards and three assists, Chelsea Belcher nine points and Amber Land eight points, 11 rebounds and three assists.
Stacey Barr did all she could to try and lift the Senators over the line finishing with 28 points and six rebounds while Tayla Hepburn contributed 18 points and four boards, Mackenzie Clinch-Hoycard 14 points, six rebounds, four steals and three assists, and Chloe Forster 11 points and five boards.
MANDURAH MAGIC 55 lost to WILLETTON TIGERS 74
The Mandurah Magic had strung wins together for the first time this season coming into their clash with the Willetton Tigers but they couldn’t quite maintain it against the league-leaders.
The Magic came into the clash on Saturday night at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre on the back of wins against the South West Slammers and Joondalup Wolves which was their first time winning consecutive games in the NBL1 West Women’s Division.
However, it was a significant challenge for the Magic to then host the Tigers on Saturday night with Willetton bringing with them to Mandurah a four-match winning streak.
Willetton put their stamp on the contest early with 20 points to 10 in the opening quarter. It was more of the same in the second quarter too with another 18 points to nine from the Tigers to see the visitors leading 38-19 by the half-time interval.
Willetton put the game to bed in the third quarter with another 19 points to 13 to see them up by 25 points at three-quarter-time.
Mandurah did win the final period but the Tigers still prevailed 74-55 to maintain top spot in the NBL1 West Women’s Division with a 10-2 record. The Magic remain a game outside the top eight at 4-8 after 15 rounds.
Alex Sharp top-scored for the night with Willetton putting up 22 points and 12 rebounds while her front court partner Sam Lubcke added 12 points and nine boards.
Emma Gandini put up 18 points, four assists, four steals and two rebounds as well for the Tigers with Sophie Maines adding five points and six rebounds.
Carly Boag put up 14 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and four steals for Mandurah while Casey Mihovilovich contributed 14 points, three boards, three steals and two assists, Kelsey Brett nine points and five rebounds, and Rachel Pettit eight points and two assists.