Hawks and Magic set for blockbuster clash (Round 14 WSBL Preview)
Women's State Basketball League title contenders Total Connections Perry Lakes Hawks and Mandurah Magic face a crucial match in round 14 action.
The two sides sit second and third respectively and are both in tremendous form, with Perry Lakes on a five-game winning streak and the Magic having won their past six matches.
And with the victors of Saturday's match to be strongly positioned to secure a top-two spot, which ensures home-court advantage all the way to the Grand Final, there will be plenty on the line at the WA Basketball Centre, where the Hawks have lost just twice this season.
The Magic, who have never won the title despite making four of the past eight Grand Finals, will start heavy favourites for their game against the Southwest Slammers on Saturday.
Southwest sits in the bottom two after losing its past 14 games will be down on confidence after a 54-point home loss to Perry Lakes last week.
Defending champions Southlands Boulevarde Willetton Tigers will be looking to consolidate their place at the top of the ladder by beating Lakeside Lighting in a rematch of last year's quarter-finals series.
The Tigers have only lost once this season and should be too strong for the Lightning, who need to turn things around quickly to get back into finals contention.
Western Stainless Stirling Senators will be desperate to end a streak of three-consecutive losses and get their finals hopes back on track by upsetting Metropolis Fremantle Cockburn Cougars.
The Senators remain in ninth spot and are just one win outside the top eight despite their losing streak, but beating Cockburn at Wally Hagan Stadium, where the Cougars have lost just once this season, will be tough.
Top-eight side Kalamunda Eastern Suns have lost their past three games and will be desperate to get back into form with victory against the struggling Rockingham Flames, who are winless from their past four games.
Rockingham will also be the underdog when it hosts Australian Central East Perth Eagles on Friday.
The sixth-placed Eagles will be trying to win consecutive games for the first time since early May.
Article by Jacob Kagi
Photo by Darren Speedie (Vision Inspired Photography)
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