Three battles between teams in top six spots (Week 8 Women's SBL Preview)
THREE of the six women's SBL matches in Week 8 sees teams inside the top six do battle with one another in what looms as a tantalising round of action.
The weekend's intriguing match ups include Hawks playing the Tigers on Friday night, and then the Wolves hosting the Magic, and the Tigers battling the Slammers both on Saturday night.
There are three women's matches on Friday night to open the round starting with the Lakeside Lightning taking on the Kalamunda Eastern Suns at Lakeside Recreation Centre.
The Orange Autos Rockingham Flames will play the Stirling Senators at Mike Barnett Sports Complex with the Perry Lakes Hawks also facing the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers at the WA Basketball Centre.
There are then three more intriguing match-ups on Saturday night with the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves taking on the Mandurah Magic at Joondalup Basketball Stadium and the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers hosting the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers at Willetton Basketball Stadium.
Those two matches tip-off at 6pm and then at 6.30pm on Saturday night the Kalamunda Eastern Suns play the Perth Redbacks at Ray Owen Sports Centre.
The Week 8 action begins on Friday night with the winless Lightning taking on an Eastern Suns team that is beginning to find some winning form.
Coming off last year's grand final appearance, it has been a horror start to the season for Lakeside having lost all eight of its matches to date but it's not as though the Lightning haven’t been competitive, including a heartbreaking three-point loss to the Stirling Senators last Friday.
Kalamunda, meanwhile, lost its first three matches of the season but the Suns have now since recorded wins over the Cougars and Tigers to be building some encouraging form and their current 2-5 record sees them sit in eighth place on the standings.
The defending champion Flames host the Senators also on Friday night with Rockingham looking to bounce back from its first loss of the season last week against the Mandurah Magic.
The Flames began their championship defence winning their opening seven matches before losing to the Magic while the Senators currently sit in ninth position having won two of eight games to date in 2015.
The final match on Friday night then pits the fifth placed Hawks up against the fourth place Tigers at the WA Basketball Centre.
Perry Lakes is building some impressive form currently sitting on a 6-2 record having won four straight matches while Willetton has a 6-1 record on the season so far setting up what should be a tremendous contest between two teams determined to become contenders in 2015.
Saturday night's action begins with the third placed Wolves hosting the league-leading Magic at Joondalup Basketball Stadium.
The Lady Wolfpack enter the clash having won six straight matches to hold a 6-1 record while the Magic are on top of the standings with an 8-1 record having last weekend handed the defending champion Flames their first loss of the 2015 season.
The Tigers then back up their clash with the Hawks from Friday night by hosting the Slammers on Saturday at Willetton Basketball Stadium. South West comes into the weekend on a 5-4 record following a steadying win last Sunday over the Cockburn Cougars.
The final match of the weekend then pits the Eastern Suns up against the Redbacks with Kalamunda fresh off taking on the Lightning on Friday night, while the Redbacks come into the clash in 10th position with a 2-6 record and on a three-game losing run.
WEEK 8 WOMEN'S SBL FIXTURES
FRIDAY
Lakeside Lightning v Kalamunda Eastern Suns, Lakeside Recreation Centre 6.30pm
Orange Autos Rockingham Flames v Stirling Senators, Mike Barnett Sports Complex 6.30pm
Perry Lakes Hawks v Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers, WA Basketball Centre 6.30pm
SATURDAY
Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves v Mandurah Magic, Joondalup Basketball Stadium 6pm
Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers v Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers, Willetton Basketball Stadium 6pm
Kalamunda Eastern Suns v Perth Redbacks, Ray Owen Sports Centre 6.30pm
Article by Chris Pike
Photo by HoopShots
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