After a long run of eleven straight losses to open the 2016 SBL season, the South West Slammers women’s team registered their first win on Sunday night against the Stirling Senators.

 

Victory came in the form of a hard-fought 59-55 contest in what was a scrappy affair from start to finish. Having lost last week’s game away to the Senators, the locals were determined to make amends in front of their home fans and did so in a come from behind victory to register win number one for season 2016.

 

A compelling contest in the first half saw the Slammers have the better start but a more committed defensive effort from the Senators saw them hold the home team to a lowly ten points for the second quarter to peg back the earlier advantage the Slammers held. Both teams headed to the half time break all square at 29 each.

 

The second half began with both teams struggling to score and the game continued to be a dour struggle on the offensive end. Both faced challenges in attack with Stirling guilty of several close misses around the paint while the Slammers struggled to make baskets in transition and the half court against the Senators blanketing zone. At the end of the third quarter, it was the visiting Stirling team that had edged to a two-point advantage.

 

The final quarter continued to be a battle of the offenses with a lone Dena English basket the only score in the first three and a half minutes. With the game evenly poised, both teams traded multiple stops and very few scores until back-to-back scores for Stirling extended the visitors lead to 5 points with less than 3 minutes to go.

 

Stirling opted to stay in zone to finish the game and while it had worked well in limiting the offensive impact of the home team, they were unable to capitalize and successive scores for the Slammers eventually proved the tonic in securing their first victory for the year.

 

For the Slammers it was Courtney Bayliss, who had struggled offensively the majority of the game, who catapulted the final and pivotal run with two crucial three pointers inside the last two minutes. The first was a long bomb that trimmed the Senator lead from 4 to 1, while the other was the go ahead three pointer that put the Slammers in front 57-55 with less than 24 seconds remaining on the clock. Stirling’s defense simply lost sight of Bayliss, who despite her struggles prior, made them pay the ultimate price. Two late Georgia Denehey free throws iced the victory as the Senators responded unsuccessfully with a three-point attempt as the last shot of the game.

 

Emphatic scenes followed as an understandably relieved team celebrated their victory at the sound of the final siren.

 

The home team had All Star selections Dena English and Courtney Bayliss contribute 13 points apiece, while a cameo performance off the bench from Meg Ferraz contributed 9 vital points in a low scoring game. For the Senators, Land, Bestry, Armstrong (all 11 points) and Van Dyke (17 poinst) registered double figures but 22% from the field as a team was costly.

The Slammers women have been slowly improving as the season has unfolded and their performances much better against their recent opponents. Tonight it fell together in favour of the home team and resulted in a much-welcomed victory.

 

Up next for South West are the Perry Lakes Hawks, who beat the Willeton Tigers this weekend to stop a 3 game losing slide. The Hawks will travel south without the services of star player and Perth Lynx member Toni Edmondson, who is on international duty with the New Zealand team.

Article by Vlad Alava
Photo by June Halliday