FOLLOWING three weeks of the 2016 Women's SBL season there remains three teams without a loss and another two yet to record a win while some stars continued to come up huge for their clubs.

The Willetton Tigers, Perth Redbacks and Perry Lakes Hawks all remain unbeaten after the opening three weeks of the 2016 season while the East Perth Eagles and South West Slammers are still yet to taste victory.

It was a huge three days of action over the weekend starting on Friday night with the Perth Redbacks beating the South West Slammers 102-65, the Perry Lakes Hawks defeating the Lakeside Lightning 100-91 and the Stirling Senators downing the Cockburn Cougars 70-52.

Then on Saturday night, the Mandurah Magic beat the Stirling Senators 79-59, the Kalamunda Eastern Suns defeated the East Perth Eagles 76-64 and the Rockingham Flames were too good for the Cockburn Cougars, winning 107-53.

The round concluded on Sunday afternoon with the Rockingham Flames beating the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 102-93 at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

Following three rounds, the Willetton Tigers (3-0), Perth Redbacks (3-0) and Perry Lakes (2-0) sit atop the standings.

The Rockingham Flames aren’t far behind with a 4-1 record.

The Joondalup Wolves (1-1), Mandurah Magic (1-1), Lakeside Lightning (1-2), Kalamunda Eastern Suns (1-3) and Cockburn Cougars (1-3) all have one win apiece. The East Perth Eagles (0-3) and South West Slammers (0-3) are still winless.

The Team of the Week is made up of Sami Whitcomb and Darcee Garbin from the Flames, Stacey Barr of the Eastern Suns, Deanna Smith of the Hawks and Ashley Gilmore from the Redbacks.

Whitcomb backed up being the Player of the Week in Round 2 with two more strong performances for the Flames – one a dominant showing and one where she facilitated her teammates a little more.

On Saturday night against the Cougars, she had 34 points, 10 rebounds, five steals and five assists on 9-of-18 shooting from the field, 5-of-10 from three-point range and 11-of-13 from the free-throw line.

Then on Sunday against the Suns, the three-time MVP had 15 points, nine rebounds, four assists and four steals on an efficient 5-of-8 shooting.

Garbin came off the bench against Cockburn for Rockingham but still had a big impact with 24 points and 15 rebounds while going 6-of-10 from the floor and 11-of-11 at the line.

She then started on Sunday against Kalamunda and contributed 20 points, five rebounds and two assists.

Barr was a big factor in the Eastern Suns recording their first win of the season on Saturday night over the Eagles as she led the way with 29 points and five rebounds while hitting 10-of-20 from the floor, and 4-of-9 from downtown.

She backed up on Sunday against the Flames with 32 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Smith had a big hand in keeping Perry Lakes unbeaten with a nine-point high scoring win over Lakeside on Friday. She finished the night with 24 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.

Gilmore also had a strong game on Friday night for the unbeaten Redbacks with 22 points, 11 rebounds and two blocked shots on 9-of-12 shooting.

They were far from the only standout performers of the weekend though.

Starting on Friday night, the Redbacks beat the Slammers by 37 points and Ajay Jones showed she is settling into her new club nicely with 20 points, six assists, three rebounds and two steals on 8-of-9 shooting from the floor and a perfect 4-of-4 from downtown.

Rebecca Mercer is much the same and had 19 points, 10 assists and six rebounds with Jess Jakens contributing 15 points and 10 boards as she enjoys the more help she has in 2016.

Dena English battled hard for the Slammers with 23 points, six rebounds and four steals. Raya Thompson had 12 points too.

It was an outstanding game on Friday at Lakeside Recreation Centre and Smith got plenty of support Perry Lakes' win with 17 points each from Lauren Jeffers and Sarah Donovan, 13 from Kate Anthony and 13 to go with 15 rebounds and four assists from Antonia Edmondson.

The Lightning had plenty of strong contributors too with Courtney Byrnes finishing with 23 points, nine rebounds and six assists.

Alison Schwagmeyer also had 19 points and six assists, Ashleigh Grant 19 points, eight boards and four blocks, Devanny King 14 points and six rebounds and Tiahrn Flynn 13 points and four steals.

The Senators beat the Cougars also on Friday by 18 points with Amber Land top-scoring with 12 points to go with 12 rebounds and four assists. Taylor Bestry had six points and 10 rebounds, and Tegan Walker eight points and nine boards.

Stirling backed up with a 20-point loss to Mandurah on Saturday with Land adding another 16 points, six rebounds, four blocks and two steals. Bestry scored 10 points.

Cherridy Thornton top-scored for the Cougars with 20 points and 10 rebounds. She did so again on Saturday against the Flames with 21 points and 10 boards.

As well as Barr's performance for the Suns on Saturday against the Eagles, Sarah-Jane MacMahon finished with 17 points and five rebounds, and Jorjah Smith 12 points.

On Sunday for Kalamunda, MacMahon added 15 points, 10 rebounds and four assists, Natalia Soli'ai 14 points and nine boards, and Smith 11 points and six assists.

Jodee Sontay top-scored for the Eagles with 11 points while Kelsey DeWitt, Elainah Coffey and Nicole Jorre St Jorre also scored nine.

Casey Mihovilovich returned for the Magic in the win over the Senators on Saturday with 23 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals shooting 9-of-15 from the floor, and 3-of-5 from three.

Adijat Adams added 18 points and 14 rebounds for the Magic and Emma Klasztorny 13 points, three boards and three assists.

On top of Whitcomb and Garbin's efforts for the Flames, Ashlee Sidebottom had 14 points, seven rebounds and three assists on Saturday against the Cougars with Tarsha Fletcher adding 12 points.

Then on Sunday, Jacinta Bourne had 22 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three assists while Talisia Bourne finished with 12 points and four boards, Sidebottom 11 points and Fletcher 10 to go with four assists.

WEEK 3 WOMEN'S TEAM OF THE WEEK
Sami Whitcomb (Rockingham Flames)
Stacey Barr (Kalamunda Eastern Suns)
Deanna Smith (Perry Lakes Hawks)
Ashley Gilmore (Perth Redbacks)
Darcee Garbin (Rockingham Flames)

FRIDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Perth Redbacks 102 defeated South West Slammers 65
Lakeside Lightning 91 lost to Perry Lakes Hawks 100
Cockburn Cougars 52 lost to Stirling Senators 70

SATURDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
East Perth Eagles 64 lost to Kalamunda Eastern Suns 76
Stirling Senators 59 lost to Mandurah Magic 79
Rockingham Flames 107 defeated Cockburn Cougars 53

SUNDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 93 lost to Rockingham Flames 102

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Mick Cronin