Five teams fighting over third; three over eighth (Week 16 Women's SBL Preview)
PRECIOUS little separates Joondalup, Stirling, Mandurah and Kalamunda between third and sixth in the women's SBL and those spots could go a long way to being decided in Week 16 action as could the battle over the seventh and eighth positions.
The Friday night women's SBL features three games where second plays 10th, seventh takes on eighth and fourth plays third while then on Saturday the matches include battles between eighth and ninth, second and third and fifth and fourth.
The three Friday night women's matches all tip-off at 6.30pm with the Lakeside Lightning playing the Perry Lakes Hawks at Lakeside Recreation Centre, the Soprano Lady Cougars taking on the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers at Wally Hagan Stadium and the Stirling Senators battling the Joondalup Wolves at Warwick Leisure Centre.
The second-placed Lightning host a Hawks team all but out of the playoff race on Friday night with Lakeside looking to remain unbeaten at home so far in 2014.
The Lightning have won all seven of their matches at home on their way to a 13-3 record on the season to be two games clear in second position in the standings, but four games behind the league-leading Rockingham Flames.
The Hawks, meanwhile, have lost three straight matches to be sitting in 10th position with 5-11 and having won just once on the road so far in 2014 in seven attempts.
The two teams already met this season back in Week 5 with the Lightning recording a 67-49 victory at the WA Basketball Centre.
The Cougars had a disappointing double-loss weekend last week going down to both Stirling and Kalamunda which now sees a team expected to contend for the 2014 struggling a little in seventh position with an 8-9 record.
Cockburn isn’t in danger of missing out on the playoffs at this stage with a three-game advantage over the ninth-placed Willetton, but the Cougars have now slipped to three games behind the sixth-placed Kalamunda Eastern Suns.
That means they desperately need to bounce back this weekend but it won't be easy on Friday against a Slammers team coming off two straight wins against Perry Lakes and East Perth to improve to a 7-10 record in eighth position.
The Slammers will move up to the seventh at the expense of the Cougars with a victory on Friday night. While a Cockburn win would see the Cougars move two games clear of South West so it's a game with plenty riding on the result.
The two sides played recently back in Week 13 and on that occasion it was the Cougars winning 61-50 at Eaton Recreation Centre.
The huge Friday night then sees the fourth-placed Senators take on the third-placed defending champion Wolves.
The Senators have won three of their last five matches to improve to a 10-5 record on the season and that includes an impressive 6-1 record at home.
The Wolves, meanwhile, have now hit their best form of 2014 coming off last year's championship with four straight victories to be a game clear in third spot with an 11-4 record.
The Wolves and Senators met earlier this season in Week 6 at Joondalup Basketball Stadium with the Wolfpack winning on that occasion 64-61.
It is then a huge Saturday night of women's SBL action with five matches taking place and each of them tip-off at 6pm.
The Perth Redbacks play the Kalamunda Eastern Suns at Belmont Oasis, the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers take on the Willetton Tigers at Eaton Recreation Centre, the Joondalup Wolves battle the Lakeside Lightning at Joondalup Basketball Stadium, the Mandurah Magic face the Stirling Senators at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre and the Schweigen East Perth Eagles take on the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre.
The Redbacks and Eastern Suns make their only appearances of the weekend on Saturday night up against one another with Perth still searching for its opening win of 2014 following 17 consecutive losses.
Kalamunda, on the other hand, is in terrific form with five straight wins including handing the Rockingham Flames their only defeat last Friday night and then backing that up with a thumping of the Cockburn Cougars.
The Eastern Suns might sit in sixth position but hold an 11-7 record to be equal on wins with the third-placed Joondalup Wolves.
Perth and Kalamunda played only two weeks ago at Ray Owen Sports Centre with the Eastern Suns winning comfortably on that occasion 97-70 over the Redbacks.
The Slammers back up their clash with the Cougars on Friday night by then hosting the ninth-placed Tigers on Saturday.
Willetton will either be two or three games behind the Slammers coming into the contest depending on whether South West wins on Friday or not. The Tigers currently sit in ninth position with a 5-11 record.
The Slammers and Tigers have already met once this season only a fortnight ago with Willetton winning at home on that occasion 79-62.
The Wolves and Lightning enter the weekend in third and second positions in the standings and both play on Friday night before then taking on one another on Saturday in another massive contest.
The Magic will then be fresh going in to hosting the Senators on Saturday night.
Mandurah currently holds an 11-6 record to sit in fifth position to be an equally good chance of finishing the weekend in third position as in sixth.
The Magic have won just one of their last three matches while the Senators come into the weekend in fourth spot and begin their double-header by taking on the Wolves on Friday.
Mandurah and Stirling have already played this season back in Week 5 with the Magic winning that contest 79-74 at Warwick Leisure Centre.
The Eagles and Flames then make their only appearances of Week 16 in a top against second bottom clash on Saturday night.
East Perth has now lost 12 straight matches to sit on a 2-16 record heading into the clash against a Rockingham team clear on top of the ladder with a 17-1 record, but the Flames are coming off their first and only defeat last Friday night at the hands of the Kalamunda Eastern Suns.
The Eagles lost their earlier meeting up against the Flames back in Week 11 with Rockingham scoring a 77-54 win at home.
WEEK 16 WOMEN'S SBL FIXTURES
FRIDAY
Lakeside Lightning v Perry Lakes Hawks, Lakeside Recreation Centre 6.30pm
Soprano Lady Cougars v Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers, Wally Hagan Stadium 6.30pm
Stirling Senators v Joondalup Wolves, Warwick Leisure Centre 6.30pm
SATURDAY
Perth Redbacks v Kalamunda Eastern Suns, Belmont Oasis 6pm
Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers v Willetton Tigers, Eaton Recreation Centre 6pm
Joondalup Wolves v Lakeside Lightning, Joondalup Basketball Stadium 6pm
Mandurah Magic v Stirling Senators, Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre 6pm
Schweigen East Perth Eagles v Orange Autos Rockingham Flames, Morley Sport and Recreation Centre 6pm
Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Mick Cronin
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