KALAMUNDA Eastern Suns women's coach Craig Mansfield was delighted with how his group responded to beat the Stirling Senators on Sunday as he now prepares for a tantalising match-up with the defending champion Joondalup Wolves this Friday night.

The Eastern Suns were missing several key players when hosting the Senators on Sunday at Ray Owen Sports Centre, but ended up prevailing 76-63 to win a seventh straight match to improve to a 13-7 record on the season and to sit in fourth position in the standings.

Frances Theunissen, Julia Theunissen, Meghan D'Arcy and Natalia Soli'ai were among the players unavailable for that game on Sunday, but Mansfield was delighted with those who did play and stand up against a rival team vying also for a top four position.

"With several players unavailable due to injury, travel and international duties we contracted a couple of extra players this week. Congratulations to Tiffany Keays and Jaimee Rich on their first WSBL contracts and suiting up," Mansfield said.

"We jumped out of the blocks and led early playing our up-tempo style but it became clear that we wouldn’t last the entire game at this with a seven player rotation. The majority of the game we played half court except for a couple of targeted periods of pressure and we were happy to hold on for a 13-point win against quality opposition.

"All the girls that played made very strong contributions and played positively. Senators played intense basketball and outrebounded us comprehensively the entire game, their physical play also disrupted some of our poise and decision making in offence so we have plenty to work on this week."

The Eastern Suns now face another huge test this Friday night against the Joondalup Wolves at the Joondalup Basketball Stadium.

The Lady Wolfpack are coming off winning the women's SBL championship last season and currently sit in third position in the standings with a 13-5 record.

They are only just ahead of the Suns and Kalamunda can give itself a real chance of taking that third spot from Joondalup with a victory on Friday night.

However, Mansfield is under no illusions as to how big of a test it is for his Suns line-up.

"Going to Wanneroo on a Friday night is a big challenge against quality opposition, and last time we faced this type of fixture we rose to the challenge," Mansfield said.

"Our last game was good preparation for Wolves as they are physical, will pressure passing lanes and rebound strongly so we will need to be improved.

"It looks like the top four has almost taken shape for the finals but there are still opportunities for teams to move amongst this group and change potential match-ups so I’m sure both teams will be highly motivated."

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Mick Cronin