THE Rockingham Flames, Lakeside Lightning, Kalamunda Eastern Suns and Joondalup Wolves have all won through to the women's SBL semi finals for 2014 with the Suns the only team pushed to three quarter final games by the Cockburn Cougars.

The quarter final match ups saw the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames, Lakeside Lightning and Joondalup Wolves all win their series' against the Willetton Tigers, Mandurah Magic and Stirling Senators in two games while the Suns prevailed over the Cougars in three on Sunday.

The quarter final results set up semi final match ups between the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames and the Kalamunda Eastern Suns, and the Lakeside Lightning and Joondalup Wolves.

The two women's Game 2 quarter final match ups on Friday night saw the Lakeside Lightning defeat the Mandurah Magic 86-73 at Lakeside Recreation Centre while the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames beat the Willetton Tigers 89-70 at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

That meant that both the top two teams from the regular season advanced straight through to the semi finals having beaten the seventh and eighth-seeded teams.

There were two women's quarter final Game 2 match ups on Saturday night with one series being forced into a Game 3 on Sunday and the other being decided.

The No. 3 seed Joondalup Wolves joined them with a 70-58 victory over the Stirling Senators in Game 2 at Joondalup Basketball Stadium.

The other Game 2 on Saturday night saw the Kalamunda Eastern Suns defeat the Soprano Lady Cougars 84-73 at Ray Owen Sports Centre to force a deciding Game 3 at the same venue on Sunday.

In another tightly contested affair, it was the Suns who prevailed over the Cougars 72-62 on Sunday.

Friday night's games saw the Lightning win their 11th straight match on and eliminate the Magic while advancing to the semi finals in the process with their 13-point victory at home.

The Flames were outstanding all season long winning their first 17 matches and then winning 20 of their 22 for the regular season, and despite the Tigers finding some form late in the season, they proved no match for Rockingham in the quarter finals.

Then on Saturday night, the Wolves got better as the night went on against the Senators with Stirling taking a 34-31 lead into half-time, but the home team got going after the break outscoring their opponent 39-28 in the second half to record the 12-point win.

That means that the season is over for the Senators while the defending champion Wolves have booked in a semi final meeting against a Lakeside Lightning team now on an 11-game winning streak.

And finally on Sunday, the Kalamunda Eastern Suns advanced to the SBL semi finals for 2014 after recording a hard-earned Game 3 victory over the Cougars by 10 points.

The Eastern Suns and Cougars women's SBL teams both came into the 2014 season expected to be right up there in championship calculations.

It was the Cougars who got the jump on the Suns with a strong opening period leading by four points heading into the second quarter, but by half-time the Eastern Suns had assumed control having kept Cockburn to just two points for the second period.

Kalamunda led 35-29 at half-time and then still led by six points at three quarter-time before then finishing strongly in the fourth period with 22 points to 18 to end up winning by 10 points and advancing to the semi finals while eliminating the Cougars.

There were once again some standout individual performances across the three days of women's quarter final action as well.

On Friday night, Kari Pickens was the dominant player on the court for the Lightning finishing with 25 points, 13 rebounds and four assists for the Lightning.

Krystal Stoneking added 16 points and seven rebounds, Emily Fielding 16 points and seven boards, and Courtney Byrnes 12 points, five assists and four rebounds.

Hailey Dunham did all she could for the Magic with 27 points while Casey Mihovilovich finished with 16 and Ashlee Sidebottom 10.

Samantha Whitcomb finished with 22 points, seven rebounds and six assists for Rockingham with Darcee Garbin contributing 20 points and 13 boards.

Kaye Tucker also added 15 points and four boards, and Jacinta Bourne 13 points, eight rebounds, three blocks, two assists and a steal.

Melissa Marsh top-scored for the Tigers with 24 points and six rebounds with Lisa Wallbutton adding 17 points and 11 rebounds.

On Saturday night, Nikita-Lee Martin was the only Joondalup player to score in double-figures finishing the night with 18 points, six rebounds and four assists.

However, there were plenty of contributors with Chelsea Burns scoring eight points (six rebounds, four assists), Ellyce Ironmonger eight (11 boards), Alex Kerr eight, Tayla Hepburn eight, Megan Lee eight and Amy Kidner eight (eight rebounds).

Taylor Wild was also the only Stirling player to reach double-figures in scoring ending up with 26 points while shooting 11-of-21 from the field and 4-of-9 from three-point range.

Jennie Rintala led the way for Kalamunda with 27 points, six rebounds and three steals while hitting 10-of-19 from the floor and 5-of-9 from three-point territory.

Alison Schwagmeyer also had a terrific night for the Eastern Suns with 25 points, six boards and four assists while Melissa Moyle contributed 10 points.

Playing coach Deanna Smith had a good night for the Cougars with 18 points, six rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots with Marita Payne contributing 16 points, 11 boards, six assists and five blocked shots.

Taryn Priestly also had 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists for Cockburn with Emma Pass adding 11 points and seven boards.

In Sunday's Game 3, Alison Schwagmeyer was the star of the show for the Eastern Suns finishing with 22 points, nine rebounds and two steals.

Adrienne Jones also contributed 14 points, four steals, two rebounds and two assists for the Suns despite shooting just 1-of-10 from the field. She did shoot an efficient 12-of-13 from the free-throw line.

Melissa Moyle contributed 13 points, three assists, three rebounds and two blocked as well for Kalamunda while Jennie Rintala worked hard for eight points and 10 rebounds.

Sarah-Jane Knox pulled in 11 rebounds as well to go with two points and a steal.

Playing coach Deanna Smith backed up her big night in Saturday night's loss with another strong showing in Sunday's defeat for the Cougars finishing with 18 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals.

Emma Pass finished with 12 points and three rebounds as well for Cockburn while Marita Payne worked hard for 11 points and 14 boards. Samantha Richards had 10 points also off the bench.

The semi finals commence this Saturday night with the Kalamunda Eastern Suns hosting the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames at Ray Owen Sports Centre at 6.30pm and then at 7.30pm, the Joondalup Wolves face the Lakeside Lightning at Joondalup Basketball Stadium.

FRIDAY WOMEN'S QUARTER FINAL GAME 2 SBL MATCHES
Lakeside Lightning 86 defeated Mandurah Magic 73
Orange Autos Rockingham Flames 89 defeated Willetton Tigers 70

SATURDAY WOMEN'S QUARTER FINAL GAME 2 SBL MATCHES
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 84 defeated Soprano Lady Cougars 73
Joondalup Wolves 70 defeated Stirling Senators 58

SUNDAY WOMEN'S QUARTER FINAL GAME 3 SBL MATCHES
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 72 defeated Soprano Lady Cougars 62

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Serene Elise Photography