An incredible 49-point performance from Sam Lubcke for the Willetton Tigers on Friday night was the headline act of the three matches that opened Round 11 in the NBL1 West Women’s Division.
There were plenty of standout performances across the three games but none better than what Lubcke produced for the Tigers against the Slammers while there also impressive wins for the Lightning and Flames to open the Round 11 action.
The Willetton Tigers kept pace with the league-leaders in the Women’s Division with Friday night’s 100-44 victory against the South West Slammers at Eaton Recreation Centre.
Lubcke delivered an incredible 49 points and 14 rebounds in the win for the Tigers in the best individual performance of the season to date.
The Lakeside Lightning then kept pace for a finals spot too handing the Cockburn Cougars a second straight loss with the 83-45 victory at Lakeside Recreation Centre.
Ash Isenbarger put up another 19 points and 10 rebounds for Lakeside with Jessie Edwards top-scoring for Cockburn with 11 points and seven boards.
The Rockingham Flames made it back-to-back wins as well on Friday night by defeating the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 72-50 at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.
Alex Ciabattoni was the star on the night for Rockingham with 30 points and 10 rebounds with Jewel Williams top-scoring for the Eastern Suns with 16 points.
Round 11 in the NBL1 West Women’s Division continues on Saturday evening with the Joondalup Wolves hosting the Rockingham Flames at HBF Arena with the East Perth Eagles taking on the South West Slammers.
The Perry Lakes Hawks are then also taking on the Perth Redbacks at Bendat Basketball Centre.
The round then concludes on Sunday afternoon with the Warwick Senators playing the Kalamunda Eastern Suns at Warwick Stadium.
NBL1 WEST – 2021 WOMEN’S SEASON
ROUND 11 – FRIDAY NIGHT
SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 44 lost to WILLETTON TIGERS 100
Sam Lubcke has shown signs of just how dominant she can be since joining the Willetton Tigers this season, but she went up another gear against the South West Slammers on Friday night.
The Tigers were looking to keep themselves solid in a top two spot in the NBL1 West Women’s Division with their trip to Eaton Recreation Centre, and Lubcke ensured they’d be getting exactly what they were hoping for even without Alex Sharp.
Willetton got off to the perfect start at both ends of the floor holding South West to just the four points in the opening quarter while putting up an impressive 26 themselves.
The Slammers were able to get a little more going offensively in the second term scoring 13 points, but they couldn’t stop the Tigers and Willetton would head into half-time leading 50-17 at the break.
It was more of the same in the second half with Willetton putting up 27 points to 14 in the third quarter, and another 23 to 13 in the fourth to end up beating the Slammers 100-44.
The result improves the Tigers to a 7-2 record on the season while the Slammers remain winless in their 11 attempts so far in 2021.
Willetton ended up dominating the rebounding count in remarkable fashion pulling in 67 boards to 35 for the night including an incredible 38 offensive boards to just five from the Slammers.
Willetton also forced South West into 34 turnovers while only having 11 themselves, and the Tigers still by 56 points while only shooting at 38 per cent from the floor and 23 per cent from deep while the Slammers went at 31 and 9 per cent on their home court.
It was a night to savour for Sam Lubcke, though, who is coming up huge in her first season out west with the Tigers. She led Willetton to the big win on the back of 49 points, 14 rebounds, four steals and two assists while shooting 19/28 from the field and 11/14 from the foul line.
Sophie Doran also put up 16 points, five rebounds and three assists for the Tigers while draining 4/7 from three-point range with Desiree Kelley finishing with 11 points, six steals, four assists and four boards, and Emma Gandini eight points, 11 rebounds, five assists and four steals.
Cian Parson again top-scored for the Slammers with eight points and three rebounds with Amarah Mohammad adding seven points and Zaya Black six to go with five assists.
LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 83 defeated COCKBURN COUGARS 45
The Lakeside Lightning continued their rollercoaster season with another impressive showing to beat the Cockburn Cougars at home on Friday night.
The Lightning came into the game on Friday on the back of losing their last two matches against the Warwick Senators and Rockingham Flames, and it was going to be fascinating as they took on a Cougars team who has been so impressive this year but suffered a hiccup last week against Perry Lakes.
Lakeside started strongly at Lakeside Recreation Centre, though, with 19 points to 13 in the first quarter. The Lightning continued to do a good job of shutting down the offence of the Cougars holding them to just 13 points again in the second term.
Lakeside put up 23 points themselves for the quarter and were in control at home by half-time leading 42-26.
It was an even more impressive defensive and offensive showing from the home team in the third quarter. The Lightning put another 27 points on the board while conceding just nine to the Cougars.
Lakeside then secured the strong win 83-45 to improve to a 4-6 record on the season to be knocking on the door of a playoff position while the Cougars have now lost two straight to be 6-4.
Ash Isenbarger continued her outstanding form for the Lightning putting up another 19 points, 10 rebounds, three steals, two blocks and two assists while shooting 7/9 from the floor and 3/5 from three-point territory.
Alecia Knowles also delivered 16 points and three rebounds for Lakeside with Kyrah Daniels adding 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists, Mikayla Pirini 11 points and four assists, and Savanna Coleman seven points and 10 rebounds.
It was a tough night for Cockburn with Jessie Edwards fighting hard for 11 points and seven rebounds. Nicole Roberts added six points, Olivia Bassett-Scarfe five and Molly Matthews five.
ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 72 defeated KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 50
The Rockingham Flames were back on their home floor on Friday night to open Round 11 in the NBL1 West Women’s Division and they proved too strong for the visiting Kalamunda Eastern Suns.
It was always going to be a big ask for the Eastern Suns to head down to Mike Barnett Sports Complex on Friday night on the back of losing their last couple of games to the Willetton Tigers and Joondalup Wolves.
The Flames split their games with the Lakeside Lightning over the past two weeks, but back on their home floor Rockingham would have been feeling good about their hopes against Kalamunda.
The Eastern Suns had other ideas, though, and got off to a flying start putting up 25 points in the opening quarter and holding Rockingham to just the 12 points on their home court.
The Flames needed to respond and were able to turn the tide after quarter-time with 19 points to eight in the second period and it was a tight affair by the half-time break with the Lightning clinging to a narrow 33-31 advantage.
Rockingham then really put their foot down in the third quarter by not only piling on 24 points themselves, but holding the Suns to just the six. That saw the Flames put the game out of reach of the Suns and they went on to score the 72-50 victory.
As a result of the win the Flames have improved to an 8-3 record on the season while the Eastern Suns are now 2-6.
Alex Ciabattoni was the standout performer for the Flames fresh off re-signing with the Perth Lynx for the upcoming 2021/22 WNBL season. She delivered 30 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and two assists for Rockingham on shooting 14/27 from the floor.
Christina Boag added 16 points, 12 rebounds and six assists for the Flames, Paris Duffield eight points and Zoe Richards six points and nine rebounds.
Jewel Williams ended up top-scoring for the Eastern Suns with 16 points and seven rebounds on hitting 4/10 from three-point range.
Sam Roscoe also had 15 points and six rebounds for the Suns, Denae Civich six points and two steals, and Lizel Buckley six points and three rebounds.