Magic fall to Cougars after just prevailing over Eagles (Week 6 Women's SBL Wrap)
THE unbeaten teams in the women's SBL for 2015 is now down to two with the Mandurah Magic upset by the Cockburn Cougars on Sunday on a weekend that saw the East Perth Eagles go so close to a long-awaited win and the Lakeside Lightning also remaining without a victory.
The Week 6 women's action included a double-win weekend for both the unbeaten Flames and emerging Wolves while the Magic just escaped with a win over the Eagles on Saturday night before suffering their first defeat of the year on Sunday at the hands of the Cougars.
The three women's matches on Friday night saw the Perry Lakes Hawks beat the Lakeside Lightning 78-63 at Lakeside Recreation Centre, the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves defeat the Perth Redbacks 75-61 at Joondalup Basketball Stadium and the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames down the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 95-64 at Eaton Recreation Centre.
There were four women's matches on Saturday night with the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames winning a thriller 78-76 over the Kalamunda Eastern Suns at Mike Barnett Sports Complex and the Mandurah Magic holding off the Schweigen East Perth Eagles 70-67 at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre.
The Perry Lakes Hawks also beat the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 61-57 at the WA Basketball Centre and the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves thrashed the Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars 86-60 at Wally Hagan Stadium.
The Sunday action to close Week 6 of the 2015 SBL season began with the women's fixture as the Cockburn Cougars scored the upset 61-57 win over the previously unbeaten Mandurah Magic at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre.
The Week 6 results see the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames (7-0) remain on top of the standings just ahead of the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers (5-0).
The Mandurah Magic (7-1) have dropped back to third ahead of the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup Wolves (5-1), the Perry Lakes Hawks (5-2), Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers (4-4), Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars (4-5) and Perth Redbacks (2-4).
The Kalamunda Eastern Suns (1-4) and Stirling Senators (1-5) are just outside the top eight while the Schweigen East Perth Eagles (0-8) and Lakeside Lightning (0-7) remain without a win.
Once again there were some outstanding individual performances beginning on Friday night where Megan McKay led the way for the Hawks with 19 points, 13 rebounds and four assists on the back of shooting 9-of-16 from the field.
Lauren Jeffers added 17 points, four boards and three assists for Perry Lakes with Kassi Conditt finishing with 14 points and six rebounds, and Danika Pisconeri nine points and six boards.
Courtney Byrnes top-scored for the Lightning with 19 points to go with six rebounds, four assists and three steals with Ashleigh Grant adding 18 points, nine boards and five assists, and Tia Ucich 13 points and four rebounds off the bench.
Rebecca Mercer continued her strong return to the Lady Wolfpack this season with another 20 points, seven rebounds and four assists while shooting 7-of-13 from the floor and 5-of-9 from three-point territory.
Alex Kerr added 14 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots as well for Joondalup while Amy Kidner contributed eight points and nine rebounds.
Gaby Clayton did all she could for the Redbacks ending the night with 24 points while Alix Hayward added 10 points and seven rebounds, Jess Jakens eight points and eight boards, and Meike Elkington five points and 12 rebounds.
Reigning MVP Samantha Whitcomb was again outstanding for Rockingham with 24 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals with Kate Williams finishing with 18 points.
Darcee Garbin also scored 10 points as did Talisia Bourne and Jacinta Bourne who also had seven rebounds, four assists and three steals. Vanessa Michael contributed eight points and seven rebounds off the bench for the Flames.
Kate Fielding did all she could for the Slammers finishing with 14 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and two steals while Bianca Donovan top-scored with 17 points. Deanica McCormick also scored 12 points and Patricia Bright 10 for South West.
Then on Saturday night, Megan McKay led the way again for the Hawks with 22 points and six rebounds with Kassi Conditt adding 16 points and 13 boards while Lauren Jeffers contributed eight points and 12 rebounds.
Patricia Bright fought hard for the Slammers with 17 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots while Deanica McCormick added 17 points, four boards and three assists. Kate Fielding also finished with 11 points, eight rebounds, five assists and five steals for the Slammers.
Chelsea Burns finished with 16 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals for Joondalup City while Rebecca Mercer added another 16 points, Amy Kidner 13, Casey Lockwood 11 and Shani Amos 10 to go with eight rebounds and five assists.
Playing-coach Deanna Smith again led the way for the Cougars with 20 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and two blocked shots but she was the only Cockburn player to score in double-figures.
And finally on Sunday, playing-coach Deanna Smith top-scored for Cockburn off the bench with 12 points, six rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots while only taking four shots and playing just over 15 minutes.
Katie Loberg added 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Cougars with Chelsea Evans contributing 10 points and Taryn Priestly nine points and five assists. Nicole Roberts also celebrated her 200th SBL appearance with the win for the Cougars.
Casey Mihovilovich finished with 12 points, 14 rebounds and eight steals for the Magic as she narrowly missed a triple-double but she did shoot 4-of-24 from the field and 1-of-9 from deep.
Kate Sidebottom also added 12 points for Mandurah while Shelley Boston scored 12 points and Emma Klasztorny 11 to go with eight rebounds.
FRIDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Lakeside Lightning 63 lost to Perry Lakes Hawks 78
Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves 75 defeated Perth Redbacks 51
Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 64 lost to Orange Autos Rockingham Flames 95
SATURDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars 60 lost to Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves 86
Schweigen East Perth Eagles 67 lost to Mandurah Magic 70
Perry Lakes Hawks 61 defeated Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 57
Orange Autos Rockingham Flames 78 defeated Kalamunda Eastern Suns 76
SUNDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Mandurah Magic 57 lost to Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars 61
Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Mick Cronin
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