JESS Van Schie is looking to win her second women's SBL championship eight years apart this Friday night when the Lakeside Lightning take on the Rockingham Flames in the 2014 grand final at the WA Basketball Centre.

The Lightning women have won just the one women's SBL championship and that was back in 2006 when Van Schie was part of the team that beat the Mandurah Magic 56-53 in a grand final thriller.

That was just Lakeside's second ever women's SBL grand final appearance and now eight years later, they are back again to take on the Flames this Friday night with Van Schie still a key component of the line-up.

The 32-year-old continues to be a strong leader for a Lightning team that is now on a 13-game winning streak heading into a tantalising grand final contest with the minor premier Flames.

Little has separated the two teams all season with Rockingham the No. 1 team offensively and Lakeside the best defensively. Van Schie has certainly enjoyed being part of a strong defensive unit this year and sees no reason to change anything now heading into the grand final.

"I think we will just continue doing what we have been doing. There is no point changing things up now when we have a game plan, and we are just going to stick to it. There's no point trying anything different now," Van Schie said.

"This year we have worked on our defensive game at every training session and we are focusing on our rotations to make sure we are contesting shots. Our rule is to make sure we get to every shot and contest it."

The Lightning finished the regular season having won all 11 matches on their home floor and then won their matches at home in the playoffs against the Mandurah Magic and Joondalup Wolves.

That has been pleasing obviously but counts for nothing heading into the grand final at the WA Basketball Centre, but Van Schie was impressed with the way the Lightning closed out the semi-final series in two games against the defending champion Wolves last Friday night.

"We seem to like our floor a little bit better than most places, but it was a pretty physical game," she said.

"I found that we went out in the second quarter and scored really well. We got a 26-point lead and we did let them come back into the game, but we never let it get back under double-digits so it was a good win."

Lakeside star Kari Pickens is right up there as an MVP candidate alongside Rockingham's Samantha Whitcomb, and Van Schie couldn’t be more impressed with what she has delivered this year at both ends of the floor.

"Kari is probably the most humble person I have ever met in my life. She doesn’t need the accolades, she just goes out and does her job," she said.

"She is all about asking who wants to shoot with her or work out with her. She is just a great person to have around. Obviously offensively she gives us a lot, but defensively she is excellent as well."

Another teammate that Van Schie has been impressed with right throughout the 2014 season is Emily Fielding, and no doubt both Fielding and Pickens will have a big say in if the Lightning win a second women's SBL championship or not on Friday night.

"Em will be the first to admit that she went and dropped a heap of weight to be in the best shape I've ever seen her in, and she started to believe in our game plan as well," Van Schie said.

"She knows what she needs to do without forcing anything and she's come along since joining us at Lakeside."

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Mick Cronin