Week 17 Women's SBL Wrap
THE two-time defending champion Rockingham Flames took another step towards another minor premiership without even playing in Week 17 of the Women's SBL with the Joondalup Wolves and Willetton Tigers suffering defeats with the Mandurah Magic continuing to emerge.
The Flames had the bye in Week 17 and while the Lady Wolfpack did beat the Tigers on Friday night, the Wolves then fell to the Magic who have now won five straight matches and eight of their last 10 to be closing in on a top four position.
The battle over the spots in the lower half of the eight is also tense with the seventh placed Eastern Suns and 10th placed Senators only separated by one win with the Redbacks and Cougars in between them.
Meanwhile, two wins for the Lightning over the Eastern Suns and Redbacks went a long way to securing a playoff berth following three straight defeats.
Week 17 Friday night SBL wrap
Double win on Friday night for Cougars over Slammers
Week 17 Saturday night SBL wrap
Week 17 began on Friday night with the Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars beating the Print Sync South West Slammers 85-62 and the Lakeside Lightning defeating the P&J Financial Solutions Kalamunda Eastern Suns 81-67.
The Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves downed the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 64-50 and the Mandurah Magic prevailed 91-54 over the Schweigen Home Appliances East Perth Eagles.
Then on Saturday night, the P&J Financial Solutions Kalamunda Eastern Suns beat the Print Sync South West Slammers 84-52, the Bethanie Stirling Senators defeated the Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars 85-82, the Lakeside Lighting beat the Texture WA Perth Redbacks 88-79 and the Mandurah Magic defeated the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves 81-73.
With three rounds of the season remaining, the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves (16-3) remain on top of the standings ahead of the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames (15-3) and Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers (14-4).
The Perry Lakes Hawks (12-7) remain in fourth position ahead of the Mandurah Magic (10-8) and Lakeside Lightning (10-9).
The P&J Financial Solutions Kalamunda Eastern Suns (8-10) and Texture WA Perth Redbacks (8-10) sit seventh and eighth ahead of Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars (8-11) and Bethanie Stirling Senators (7-12).
The Print Sync South West Slammers (2-17) and Schweigen Home Appliances East Perth Eagles (2-18) remain fighting over avoiding the wooden spoon.
There were plenty of standout performers across the eight games of the weekend starting on Friday night with the Cougars beating the Slammers by 23 points with Candace Williams dominant with 31 points, 26 rebounds and four assists.
Cherridy Thornton added 12 points, eight rebounds and three assists for Cockburn and Chelsea Evans 11 points and five boards.
Courtney Bayliss finished with 10 points and nine rebounds for the Slammers and Raya Thompson 10 points.
The Lightning beat the Eastern Suns by 14 points with Alison Schwagmeyer the star with 21 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and four steals. Courtney Byrnes contributing 17 points and 13 rebounds for Lakeside, Ashleigh Grant 17 points and 11 boards, and Devanny King 11 points and nine rebounds.
Stacey Barr top-scored for Kalamunda with 21 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals with Carley Mijovic contributing 19 points and 19 boards.
The Lady Wolfpack won a tight and low-scoring contest against the Tigers by 14 points with Nikita-Lee Martin top-scoring for the Wolves with 21 points and eight rebounds.
Shani Amos added 14 points for Joondalup, Klara Wischer 10 to go with eight rebounds and four steals, and Ellyce Ironmonger 10 points and 19 boards.
Desiree Kelley finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds for Willetton with Ebony Antonio contributing 12 points and Louella Tomlinson 11 to go with nine rebounds and three assists.
The Magic continued their winning form beating the Eagles by 37 points with Adijat Adams delivering 29 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots for Mandurah.
Casey Mihovilovich finished with 17 points and eight rebounds for Mandurah, Annette Davis 10 points and seven boards, and Emma Klasztorny nine points, 12 rebounds and five assists.
Haylee DeSousa top-scored for East Perth with 20 points while Gemma Houghton finished with 11 points and Kristan Pittard eight to go with eight boards.
Then on Saturday night, the Eastern Suns scored a crucial win beating the Slammers by 32 points with Carley Mijovic top-scoring for Kalamunda with 24 points. Melissa Moyle added 16 points for the Suns and Stacey Barr nine points to go with five assists and four rebounds.
Brittany Gliddon top-scored for South West with 14 points and five rebounds with Raya Thompson contributing 10 points, Courtney Bayliss nine points and nine rebounds, and Rebecca Preston 11 rebounds.
The Senators kept their season alive beating the Cougars by three points with Amber Land starring for Stirling with 25 points, seven assists, five rebounds and four steals.
Rebekah Throns added 16 points and five boards for the Senators, Lyndal Gardner 19 points, five rebounds and three assists, and Kara van Dyke 16 points and five boards.
Cherridy Thornton top-scored for the Cougars with 31 points and 12 rebounds with Candace Williams contributing 26 points and 19 boards.
The Lightning scored an important win over the Redbacks by nine points with Alison Schwagmeyer again leading the way with 30 points, six assists, five rebounds and four steals.
Ashleigh Grant contributed 25 points and seven rebounds for Lakeside, Courtney Byrnes 15 points and six boards, and Devanny King 10 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Ajay Jones had a terrific game for the Redbacks in her 150th SBL appearance with 27 points while Ashley Gilmore contributed 16 points and 13 boards, Bianca Donovan 13 points and Rebecca Benson 11 to go with five assists and four rebounds.
The Magic also kept their winning streak going stretching it to five beating the Lady Wolfpack by eight points with Annette Davis delivering 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Casey Mihovilovich added 20 points and four assists for Mandurah, Emma Klasztorny 17 points and five rebounds, and Adijat Adams 14 points and 11 boards.
Nikita-Lee Martin again top-scored for the Wolves with 18 points while Amy Kidner added 16 points and eight rebounds, and Shani Amos 14 points, seven assists and six boards.
FRIDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars 85 defeated Print Sync South West Slammers 62
P&J Financial Solutions Kalamunda Eastern Suns 67 lost to Lakeside Lightning 81
Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves 64 defeated Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 50
Mandurah Magic 91 defeated Schweigen Home Appliances East Perth Eagles 54
SATURDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Print Sync South West Slammers 52 lost to P&J Financial Solutions Kalamunda Eastern Suns 84
Bethanie Stirling Senators 85 defeated Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars 82
Lakeside Lightning 88 defeated Texture WA Perth Redbacks 79
Mandurah Magic 81 defeated Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves 73
Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Mick Cronin
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