THERE were three strong contests in the Women's SBL on Saturday night with the Joondalup Wolves, Lakeside Lightning and Mandurah Magic recording hard fought Round 1 victories.

Following the Friday night action that saw East Perth beat Kalamunda, Rockingham defeat Perth and Perry Lakes down Stirling, there were three more matches on Saturday night with all six teams making their first appearances of 2017.

That saw the Joondalup Wolves defeat the Cockburn Cougars 73-71 at Joondalup Basketball Stadium, the Lakeside Lightning beat the South West Slammers 79-68 at Eaton Recreation Centre and the Mandurah Magic beat the defending champion Willetton Tigers 67-53 at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

Week 1 Friday night women's SBL results http://websites.sportstg.com/assoc_page.cgi?client=1-5011-0-0-0&sID=78732&&news_task=DETAIL&articleID=53569354

The Tigers began their championship defence without Zoe Harper and with import Jessica Hootmann yet to arrive. The Magic came in to Willetton and claimed a confidence-boosting win to open 2017.

Mandurah too will welcome Carly Boag following the WNBL gran final series but they were impressive on Saturday at Willetton led by Casey Mihovilovich. She is showing no signs of slowing down starting the season with 22 points and six rebounds.

New import Nici Gilday also was lively for the Magic with 18 points and four boards. Rachel Halleen contributed 10 points and four rebounds, and Emma Klasztorny eight points and nine boards.

Kate Malpass tried to lift the Tigers over the line with 25 points, six steals and five rebounds. Emma Gandini added 10 points and eight rebounds, and Desiree Kelley seven points, 10 boards and four assists.

The Lightning made the trip to Eaton and came away with the 11-point victory on the back of a big game from their two imports.

Stacey Fipps came in and delivered 24 points and 10 rebounds while reigning MVP Ali Schwagmeyer finished with 21 points, eight boards, five assists and three steals.

Jess Van Schie added eight points and three steals for Lakeside and Alecia Knowles eight points and three rebounds.

New Slammers import Brittany Hodges showed she will be a handful this season with 32 points and 13 rebounds on 11-of-17 shooting.

Courtney Bayliss also had 12 points and 13 rebounds for South West and Tori Dugan nine points and 11 assists.

The thriller of the night was at Joondalup and in the end the Lady Wolfpack came from behind to beat the Cougars by two points in a rematch of last year's quarter-final series.

The Wolves went on to make the grand final from there and started the 2017 season with another win, but they had to earn it.

Chelsea Belcher was the star benefitting from her increased responsibility in the absence of Klara Wischer and Nikita Martin. She finished with a career-best 29 points and eight rebounds.

Shanice Swain is another player looking to stand up further in 2017 and had 14 points for the Wolves. Shani Amos contributed 10 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals, Ellyce Ironmonger nine points, 17 boards and eight assists.

Brianna Moyes top-scored for the Cougars with 22 points and five rebounds with Steph Jones adding 12 points and 11 boards in her first game with Cockburn having moved from East Perth.

Kersten Mitchell also had 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Cougars, Nicole Pitcher nine and Isabelle Miotti eight.

FRIDAY NIGHT ROUND 1 WOMEN'S SBL RESULTS
East Perth Eagles 75 defeated Kalamunda Eastern Suns 53
Rockingham Flames 95 defeated Perth Redbacks 80
Perry Lakes Hawks 77 defeated Stirling Senators 62

SATURDAY NIGHT ROUND 1 WOMEN'S SBL RESULTS
Joondalup Wolves 73 defeated Cockburn Cougars 71
South West Slammers 68 lost to Lakeside Lightning 79
Willetton Tigers 53 lost to Mandurah Magic 67

Photo by Vikki Hile