THE Anzac Round of the women's SBL saw the Rockingham Flames and Willetton Tigers lose their first games of the 2015 season while the East Perth Eagles finally broke their 24-game losing streak.

It was a fascinating round of women's action that included the Mandurah Magic beat the Rockingham Flames, the Kalamunda Eastern Suns defeat the Willetton Tigers and the East Perth Eagles finally record a win by beating the Stirling Senators.

Friday night's women's SBL action saw the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves defeat the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 74-49 at Joondalup Basketball Stadium and the Stirling Senators beat the Lakeside Lightning 79-76 at Warwick Leisure Centre.

The Anzac Day women's SBL action began in the afternoon with the Mandurah Magic beating the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames 71-62 at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

Then in the evening of Anzac Day, the Schweigen East Perth Eagles beat the Stirling Senators 56-51 at Morley Sports and Recreation Centre, the Perry Lakes Hawks downed the Perth Redbacks 66-36 at Curtin Stadium and the Kalamunda Eastern Suns upset the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 80-76 at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

The lone Sunday fixture over the Anzac Day weekend in the women's SBL saw the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers defeat the Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars 81-58 at Eaton Recreation Centre.

The Anzac Round of SBL action concluded on Monday afternoon at Willetton Basketball Stadium with the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers women beating the Perth Redbacks 81-44.

As a result of the weekend's results there are no unbeaten teams left in the women's SBL with the Mandurah Magic (8-1) on top of the standings ahead of the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames (7-1), the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves (6-1) and Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers (6-1).

The Perry Lakes Hawks (6-2) then sit in fifth position with the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers (5-4), Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars (4-6) and Kalamunda Eastern Suns (2-5) making up the positions in the top eight.

The Stirling Senators (2-6) are just outside the top eight followed by the Perth Redbacks (2-6), Schweigen East Perth Eagles (1-8) and Lakeside Lightning (0-8).

Across the eight women's matches over the four days of the Anzac Day weekend, there were some standout individual performances.

That started on Friday night with Shani Amos leading the way on the evening for the Lady Wolfpack finishing with 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

Casey Lockwood added 11 points and nine rebounds as well for Joondalup with Chelsea Burns adding 10 points, seven boards, five assists and three steals.

Abbie Ironmonger also contributed 10 points off the bench for the Wolves with Amy Kerr scoring nine points and Ellyce Ironmonger pulling in 12 rebounds.

Thea Lemberger did all she could for the Eastern Suns finishing with 20 points, seven rebounds, four steals and three assists with Abbey Duinker also contributing 16 points and nine boards. However, no other Kalamunda player managed more than four points.

For much of the evening at Warwick it appeared that the Lightning women were going to win their first game of the 2015 season with them leading by four points at quarter-time, by 19 at half-time and still 13 at three quarter-time.

However, it was yet another heartbreaking loss for Lakeside to start the year with the Senators scoring 29 points to 13 in the fourth period to end up winning by three points in a thriller.

Tegan Walker had a big double-double for the Senators finishing with 23 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and two steals with Amber Land also contributing 14 points, 12 boards and seven assists.

Aisha Collymore added 11 points off the bench for Stirling with Fiona Madden finishing with eight points, Maria Robinson seven, Bridget Henderson six and Elleana Donaldson six. Cassie Bates also had four points, eight assists, three steals and three rebounds despite failing to hit a field goal.

Courtney Byrnes did all she could for the Lightning finishing with 21 points, six assists, four rebounds and two steals.

Ashleigh Grant contributed 14 points, nine boards, two steals and two blocked shots as well for Lakeside while Megan Craig had 14 points and four rebounds off the bench.

Then on Saturday, Casey Mihovilovich was outstanding for Mandurah finishing the afternoon with 25 points, nine rebounds, nine assists, three steals and three blocked shots on the back of shooting 7-of-21 from the field, 4-of-10 from downtown and 7-of-8 from the free-throw line.

Ashlee Sidebottom was also terrific for the Magic with 18 points, eight boards and three assists while Emma Klasztorny added eight points and nine rebounds, Rachel Halleen seven points and five boards, and Briana Klasztorny six points and eight rebounds.

Jacinta Bourne top-scored for the Flames with 15 points, eight rebounds, four assists, three blocked shots and two steals in a strong all-round performance.

Darcee Garbin added 14 points and 12 rebounds also for Rockingham while Samantha Whitcomb had 10 points, eight boards and five assists, and Lizel Buckley seven points and nine rebounds.

And then the Eagles beat the Senators to win their first game of the season and finally ended their 24-game losing streak that took in the last 16 matches of last season and the first eight of this year.

Stephanie Jones had a remarkable game for the Eagles and it finished with her not scoring a solitary point and missing her six shots, but she did pull in 18 rebounds in a dominant display on the glass.

Kelsey Maffin ended up scoring 11 points and collecting nine boards as well for East Perth with Denielle Lipscombe contributing 11 points and six boards off the bench.

Jodee Sontay also scored 10 points for the Eagles and Nicole Jorre St Jorre 10 to go with six rebounds and four assists.

Cassie Bates top-scored for the Senators with 17 points, five rebounds and five assists with Tegan Walker adding 14 points, six boards and three steals.

Captain Amber Land also worked hard finishing with a strong all-round game for Stirling with nine points, 15 rebounds and five assists.

Lauren Jeffers led the way again for Perry Lakes with 17 points, five steals, three rebounds and two assists while Kassi Conditt also had a big night with 16 points, 17 boards, two assists and two blocked shots.

Megan McKay finished with a double-double as well for the Hawks with 13 points and 10 rebounds while Mia Satie contributed eight points off the bench.

Jess Jakens top-scored for the Redbacks with 13 points, three rebounds and two assists but no other player scored more than four points or had more than the six boards pulled in by Lauren Hall and Alix Hayward.

Thea Lemberger was the star of the night for the Suns finishing with 25 points, three assists, two rebounds and two steals on the back of shooting 11-of-19 from the floor and 3-of-7 from three-point territory.

Jessie Edwards also added 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Eastern Suns with Madeleine Dennis contributing 12 points and five boards, Abbey Duinker 10 points and five rebounds, Melissa Moyle nine points, four boards and four assists, and Rebecca Motroni nine points, four rebounds and three assists.

Ebony Antonio top-scored for the Tigers who lost their first game of the season and she finished with 16 points and four rebounds while Lisa Wallbutton had a big performance off the bench with 15 points and 13 boards.

Kate Malpass also contributed 14 points, 10 assists, three steals and two rebounds for Willetton with Zoe Harper finishing with 12 points and Louella Tomlinson 10 to go with eight boards, three assists and three blocked shots.

On Sunday, Deanica McCormick led the way for the Slammers finishing the game with 24 points, seven assists, six rebounds and three steals on the back of shooting 12-of-22 from the field.

Kelly Bastow added 16 points for South West also while shooting a perfect 4-of-4 from three-point territory and Brittany Gliddon contributed 15 points, four rebounds and two steals, and Patricia Bright recorded a double-double with 11 points, 10 boards and three assists.

Katie Loberg top-scored for Cockburn with 13 points and five rebounds with Abbie McDonald adding 11 points, three boards and two assists.

And on Monday, Louella Tomlinson had a terrific afternoon for the Tigers finishing the game with 25 points, 17 rebounds, four blocked shots, four assists and two steals while shooting 8-of-15 from the field.

Zoe Harper also added 11 points and 10 boards for Willetton with Kate Malpass contributing 10 points and Melissa Marsh seven to go with five rebounds in only 13 minutes of court time off the bench.

Gaby Clayton top-scored for the Redbacks with 12 points and seven rebounds while Jess Jakens added nine points and five boards, Alix Hayward six points and five rebounds, and Meike Elkington five points and seven boards.

FRIDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves 74 defeated Kalamunda Eastern Suns 49
Stirling Senators 79 defeated Lakeside Lightning 76

SATURDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Orange Autos Rockingham Flames 62 lost to Mandurah Magic 71
Schweigen East Perth Eagles 56 defeated Stirling Senators 51
Perth Redbacks 36 lost to Perry Lakes Hawks 66
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 80 defeated Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 76

SUNDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
South West Slammers 81 defeated Cockburn Cougars 58

MONDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 81 defeated Perth Redbacks 44

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Serene-Elise Photography