THE Lakeside Lightning hosting the Joondalup Wolves in a sixth against second battle on Friday night is just one of six tantalising Women's SBL matches in Week 11 of the 2016 season.

There are three Women's SBL matches on Friday night with the Lakeside Lightning playing the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves, the Textile WA Perth Redbacks taking on the Kalamunda Eastern Suns and the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers facing the Schweigen Home Appliances East Perth Eagles.

Then on Saturday night, the Eagles back up at home to the Mandurah Magic with the Bethanie Stirling Senators battling the Print Sync South West Slammers and the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames tackling the Perry Lakes Hawks.

The Lightning improved to a 5-5 record with a 15-point win at home over the Suns last Friday night, but if they hope to break into the top four they will need to start beating the teams above them.

And one of those is the second placed Lady Wolfpack who hold an 8-1 record and are currently on a seven-game winning streak. They need to keep winning as well to remain in second spot ahead of the chasing Flames.

Lightning coach Craig Mansfield is well aware of the challenge the Wolves present but he's looking forward to finding out how his team stacks up.

"Joondalup will be a big challenge this Friday. I have been impressed with the footage I have seen on them this season," Mansfield said.

"Amos, Ironmonger and Kidner are all having strong seasons, Martin can always fill it up and Wischer has been a great addition that can step into a variety of roles. Defensively they are extremely disciplined, communicate well and don't foul.

"There is nothing better than lining up against the form teams of the competition and seeing how we measure up. I am confident we can have success against them and excited for the game."

Looking back to Lakeside's win over the Eastern Suns last Friday, Mansfield was pleased with the overall performance to rack up 100 points to win by 15 with Alison Schwagmeyer and Ashleigh Grant both named to the SBL Team of the Week, and Jess Van Schie making a return.

"I was very pleased with our defensive effort in the second half against Suns. In the first half we didn't react well to the extreme aggression of some of their scorers, after the long break we were able to tilt our defence further towards them and individually make sure we weren't giving them their preferred option or shot type.," Mansfield said.

"Welcoming back Jess Van Schie certainly helped our defence off the bench, but all the girls who played were strong in this area, particularly Davis who I think is elite in this area when she stays concentrated.

"We had a season high 31 assists which shows some good passing. Our spacing was pretty good and we had our best balance all season between moving the ball and attacking individually.

"Ali Schwagmeyer and Ash Grant had big nights individually with 27 points. It was particularly pleasing for Ash Grant to have a big game. It was her best night moving and cutting without the ball for the season and hopefully this shows more comfort in a new system and a couple of different positions."

The Lightning's clash with the Wolves isn’t the only Friday night battle with the Redbacks also facing the Suns in a match that pits former Kalamunda player Ajay Jones up against her old team for the second time of the year.

Perth enter the clash in fifth position with a 6-5 record coming off a 103-77 win last week over the Hawks while the Suns are 4-6 and clinging to eighth position following a loss to the Lightning.

The Tigers also host the Eagles with Willetton looking to maintain top position.

The Tigers enter the clash at Willetton Basketball Stadium with a 10-1 record while East Perth is struggling at 1-9 having lost four straight but they will be hopeful of having regrouped after the bye following a big loss to the Wolves.

Then on Saturday night, the Eagles have to back up their clash on Friday by hosting the Magic at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre. Mandurah has been in improved form of late coinciding with Casey Mihovilovich's return to improve to 4-7 but they are still on the outside of a playoff spot.

The Senators and Slammers make their only appearances of the weekend at Warwick Stadium with Stirling needing a win to improve on a 4-8 record that sees them currently sit in 10th spot. The Slammers, meanwhile, remain winless after 10 games despite an improved showing only losing to the defending champion Flames by 10 points at home last Friday.

Speaking of the Flames, they take on the Hawks at Mike Barnett Sports Complex on Saturday night with Perry Lakes needing to find a way to stop Sami Whitcomb after she delivered 55 points against the Slammers.

Rockingham needs to keep winning to maintain pace with the Tigers and Wolves while the Hawks are looking to consolidate fourth position as well and to close the gap on the Flames in third. The battle between Whitcomb and Deanna Smith will be worth the price of admission alone.

WEEK 11 WOMEN'S SBL FIXTURES
FRIDAY
Lakeside Lightning v Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves, Lakeside Recreation Centre 6.30pm
Textile WA Perth Redbacks v Kalamunda Eastern Suns, Belmont Oasis Leisure Centre 6.30pm
Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers v Schweigen Home Appliances East Perth Eagles, Willetton Basketball Stadium 6.30pm

SATURDAY
Schweigen Home Appliances East Perth Eagles v Mandurah Magic, Morley Sport and Recreation Centre 6pm
Bethanie Stirling Senators v Print Sync South West Slammers, Warwick Stadium 6pm
Orange Autos Rockingham Flames v Perry Lakes Hawks, Mike Barnett Sports Complex 6.30pm

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Mick Cronin