THE remaining women's SBL playoff positions will be decided this weekend as the South West Slammers, Perry Lakes Hawks and East Perth Eagles fight over the last two positions in the top eight.

If the Eagles want to replace either the Slammers or Hawks in the top eight now over the last three weeks of the 2015 season, they need to beat both South West on Saturday night and Perry Lakes this Sunday in order to do so.

However, a Slammers win on Friday and a Hawks win on Sunday would lock in the eight teams to take part in the playoffs for 2015.

The weekend's action begins with two matches on Friday night at 6.30pm with the Kalamunda Eastern Suns playing the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames at Ray Owen Sports Centre, and the Perry Lakes Hawks facing the Stirling Senators at Bendat Basketball Centre.

Then on Saturday, the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers face the Schweigen East Perth Eagles at Eaton Recreation Centre, the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves play the Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars at Joondalup Basketball Stadium, the Mandurah Magic battle the Perth Redbacks at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre, and the Stirling Senators take on the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers at Warwick Leisure Centre.

There is then one game on Sunday to conclude the round at 12pm at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre with the Schweigen East Perth Eagles playing the Perry Lakes Hawks.

Starting on Friday night, the league-leading defending champion Flames look to take one step further towards the women's minor premiership for a second straight season but the Suns' recent form suggests they can certainly make it a competitive contest.

The Flames have now won 11 straight matches to have improved to an 18-1 record but they do need to keep winning to hold off the challenge from the 17-2 Willetton Tigers.

Meanwhile, the Suns started the season slowly losing five of their first six matches but since they have done well winning 11 of their last 13 games to have improved to a 12-7 record and to be comfortable in fifth position, and still a chance to snatch third or fourth if they keep winning.

It was a thrilling contest back in Week 6 at Mike Barnett Sports Complex with the Flames coming away with a nail-biting 78-76 victory in their narrowest victory of the season.

Despite beating the Suns last Sunday, the loss the night before and the previous Saturday to the Flames and Magic have ended the Senators challenge for a playoff spot as they enter Friday's clash with the Hawks who do need to win.

Perry Lakes still holds on to eighth position at 7-11 but the Hawks have won just the once in their last 10 games to remain vulnerable to the challenge from the ninth placed East Perth Eagles if they don’t find another couple of wins before the regular season is over.

It was back in Week 5 when the two teams played earlier this season with the Hawks coming away comfortable 73-54 winners over the Senators at Warwick Leisure Centre.

Then on Saturday, the Eagles have a must-win trip to Eaton to take on the Slammers.

If East Perth wants to remain in the playoff hunt in 2015, they can't afford another loss in the run home against the Slammers, Hawks and Wolves.

That challenge begins on Friday on the road to the Slammers and they are one of the teams they could end up replacing if they do win their remaining three matches. However, a win for South West would improve them to a 9-10 record and guarantee their spot in the playoffs.

Back in Week 2 the last two teams met early in the season with a tight low-scoring contest ending up with the Slammers winning 54-51 at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre.

The Wolves do look solid in third position heading into their clash at home against the Cougars on Saturday but they do need to keep winning to remain an outside chance of snatching second position, and to avoid either the Magic or Suns leapfrogging them.

However, the Cougars have won their last two matches to improve to a 9-11 record and to guarantee a playoff spot and they will be looking to showing what they are a capable of against a potential quarter-final opponent.

It was a thumping 86-60 win for the Wolves back in Week 6 at Wally Hagan Stadium but the Cougars will be looking to put in a much more competitive showing this time around.

The Magic then host the Redbacks and while they are guaranteed of at least finishing in the top five, they would like to at least guarantee fourth position to earn home court advantage in a likely quarter-final match up with the Eastern Suns.

To do that the Magic do need to keep winning and after losing two of their last three matches try to get back to some winning form. Despite being out of the playoff hunt at 4-15, the Redbacks are a dangerous team and certainly won't make life easy for Mandurah.

Back in Week 3 was when the two teams met earlier this season and on that occasion it was a low-scoring affair with the Magic ending up winning narrowly 50-44 at Curtin Stadium.

The final match on Saturday night sees the Senators host the Tigers with Stirling out of the playoff hunt now and having already played the Hawks on Friday, while Willetton is making its only appearance of the weekend.

The Tigers do need to keep winning to be any chance of snatching top spot off the Flames as well now over the past three weeks so they can't afford a slip up.

The Tigers had a thumping 85-46 win over Senators back in Week 10 at Willetton Basketball Stadium and the job is now ahead of Stirling to put in a more competitive showing this time around.

And finally on Sunday, the Eagles and Hawks could meet in virtual cut-throat affair depending on what happens with both of them earlier in the weekend.

If the Eagles manage to beat the Slammers on Saturday and the Hawks lose to the Senators on Friday, then East Perth could move into eighth spot by Sunday night with a win over Perry Lakes.

However, Perry Lakes could also guarantee its place in the finals and end the hopes of East Perth with a win so everything is riding on the contest.

The two teams opened the season on a Friday night at the Bendat Basketball Centre with the Hawks starting off the campaign with a thumping 73-48 victory.

WEEK 18 WOMEN'S SBL FIXTURES
FRIDAY
Kalamunda Eastern Suns v Orange Autos Rockingham Flames, Ray Owen Sports Centre 6.30pm
Perry Lakes Hawks v Stirling Senators, Bendat Basketball Centre 6.30pm

SATURDAY
Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers v Schweigen East Perth Eagles, Eaton Recreation Centre 6pm
Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves v Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars, Joondalup Basketball Stadium 6pm
Mandurah Magic v Perth Redbacks, Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre 6pm
Stirling Senators v Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers, Warwick Leisure Centre 6pm

SUNDAY
Schweigen East Perth Eagles v Perry Lakes Hawks, Morley Sport and Recreation Centre 12pm

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Grant Lauterbach