THE women's SBL playoffs get underway this Friday night with three of the four Game 1 quarter-final match ups taking place with the lower-ranked teams trying to get the jump on their more fancied opponents.

The action gets underway at 6.30pm on Friday night when the Perry Lakes Hawks host the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers at Bendat Basketball Centre.

Then at 7.30pm on Friday night the Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars face the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames at Wally Hagan Stadium, and at 8pm the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers play the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves at Eaton Recreation Centre.

The last Game 1 battle then takes place at 7pm on Saturday night when the Kalamunda Eastern Suns host the Mandurah Magic at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

Starting on Friday night, the seventh-placed Hawks take on the second-placed Tigers with Perry Lakes trying to go one-up in the series before it heads to Willetton next weekend.

The Hawks started the season in tremendous fashion winning six of their first eight games but then they struggled losing their next nine and six of their next 10 matches.

However, Perry Lakes won three of the last four games of the regular season to end up in the playoffs with a 10-12 record to at least take some confidence into the quarter-final battle with Willetton.

The Tigers only missed out on the minor premiership by one-point having beaten the Flames by four points last Saturday night when a five-point victory would have been enough for Willetton to replace Rockingham on top of the standings at the end of the regular season.

The Hawks and Tigers first met back in Week 8 at Bendat Basketball Centre with Willetton winning 71-42 and then in Week 12 at Willetton basketball Stadium, again the Tigers scored a similarly emphatic 73-46 victory over Perry Lakes.

The Cougars face the unenviable task up against the defending champion minor premier Flames but with playing-coach Deanna Smith at the helm and on the floor, Cockburn isn’t without a chance.

Trying to stop Sami Whitcomb, Darcee Garbin, Jacinta Bourne, Tarsha Fletcher and Talisia Bourne, among others, but the Cougars will be looking to cause the upset of the quarter finals.

Coming off last season's history-making championship, the Flames dropped just two games this season in an attempt to defend the title while the Cougars finished the regular season with a 9-13 record.

The first meeting between the Cougars and Flames got ugly for Cockburn with Rockingham winning 92-44 at Wally Hagan Stadium.

However, that was way back in Week 4 of the season and the Cougars were vastly more competitive in the next meeting on a Friday night in Week 15 when the Flames still came away with a 87-75 victory at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

Also on Friday night, the sixth-placed Slammers take on the third-placed Wolves in what looms as a fascinating quarter-final match up.

South West has certainly had an eventful season, but still managed to end up finishing strongly winning three of its last four games to hold a 10-12 record and finish in sixth position.

And with the likes of Deonica McCormick, Patricia Bright, Kate Fielding and Bianca Donovan, the Slammers do have enough offensive weapons to trouble the Lady Wolfpack.

The Wolves weren’t too far off the top two teams right throughout the 2015 season and certainly enter the playoffs still as a genuine playoff contender, and they'll be looking to make a statement against the Slammers and entering the playoffs with an 18-4 record and five-game winning streak.

The two teams first meet back in Week 5 at Eaton Recreation Centre and on that occasion it was the Wolves who comfortably won 85-63 before in Week 15 at Joondalup Basketball Stadium, the Lady Wolfpack scored a thumping 100-57 victory over the Slammers.

Then on Saturday night, perhaps the hardest to predict quarter-final match up gets underway between the Magic and Suns.

Mandurah enters the series from fourth position having finished the regular season with a 15-7 record, but the Magic did lose two of their last three games while the Suns started the season slowly and finished off struggling, but were outstanding in between.

The Eastern Suns started off losing five of their first six games but then went on a nine-game winning streak before then losing their last four matches setting up an exciting and unpredictable series with the Magic.

The Suns and Magic opened and closed the regular season by playing one another and in the opening round, it was Mandurah who prevailed 62-49 at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

Then last Saturday night at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre it was again the Magic who prevailed this time to the tune of 14 points.

WEEK 1 WOMEN'S QUARTER FINALS SBL FIXTURES
FRIDAY
(7) Perry Lakes Hawks v (2) Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers, Bendat Basketball Centre 6.30pm
(8) Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars v (1) Orange Autos Rockingham Flames, Wally Hagan Stadium 7.30pm
(6) Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers v (3) Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves, Eaton Recreation Centre 8pm

SATURDAY
(5) Kalamunda Eastern Suns v (4) Mandurah Magic, Ray Owen Sports Centre 7pm

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Grant Lauterbach