THE Perry Lakes Hawks have a chance to show they belong in the discussion with the top Women's SBL teams by taking on the league-leading Joondalup Wolves on Sunday while the Kalamunda Eastern Suns and Cockburn Cougars look to consolidate their playoff positions.

Week 13 of the Women's SBL begins with three big matches on Friday night with the Lakeside Lightning taking on the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers, the Print Sync South West Slammers facing the Perry Lakes Hawks and the Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars playing the Schweigen Home Appliances East Perth Eagles.

The Lightning host the Tigers at Lakeside Recreation Centre with the home team coming off an impressive 15-point win over the Cougars while Willetton lost its second game of the season last Saturday night at the hands of the Hawks.

That saw the Tigers give up top spot in the standings with an 11-2 record meaning to be any chance of replacing the Lady Wolfpack again they need to beat the Lightning.

But Lakeside consolidated its place in the top eight by improving to a 6-6 record and with reigning Player of the Week Ashleigh Grant, Alison Schwagmeyer and Courtney Byrnes leading the way, the Lightning will look to really take it up to the Tigers.

The Slammers have now broken their duck for the 2016 season after breaking through and beating the Senators last Sunday, and now they return to Eaton Recreation Centre again this Friday to host the fourth placed Hawks.

After losing its first 11 games of the season, South West beat Stirling 59-55 on Sunday and got off the bottom of the table in the process.

However, the Hawks are also coming to Eaton with confidence after beating the Tigers last Saturday night to consolidate themselves in fourth position with an 8-5 record on the season and they won't want a slip up.

The final Friday night fixture sees the Cougars take on the Eagles at Wally Hagan Stadium.

Cockburn has now lost its last two games to be clinging to a spot in the top eight. A loss could see the Cougars drop out of a playoff position so they will be banking on import stars Candace Williams and Cherridy Thornton to ensure that doesn’t happen.

East Perth has now slipped to the bottom of the standings at 1-12 having lost its last seven games including a 49-point defeat at the hands of the Eastern Suns last Friday night.

Then on Saturday night, the Kalamunda Eastern Suns take on the Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars and the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames host the Bethanie Stirling Senators.

The Eastern Suns host the Cougars at Ray Owen Recreation Centre in what is shaping as a pivotal contest.

Cockburn will be coming off its clash with East Perth on Friday with the Eastern Suns fresh after last Friday night's 49-point win over that same Eagles team.

But the difference between a loss and win in this one could be season-defining with Kalamunda entering the weekend in seventh spot at 6-6, and Cockburn in eighth at 5-7.

Saturday night's other fixture pits the Flames up against the Senators with Rockingham out to bounce back from a rare loss and Stirling to perform better against a top team.

The Flames remained in third position in the standings after losing to the Perth Redbacks by a point last Friday night in what was their third defeat already of 2016 after losing just twice in all of last season on the way to a second straight championship.

The Senators remain in playoff contention with a 5-9 record but need to start performing better against good teams and this week would be the ideal time to start. So far this season Stirling has lost to the Tigers by 50 and 35 points, Hawks by 19 and Wolves by 24.

And on Sunday, the Schweigen Home Appliances East Perth Eagles take on the Lakeside Lightning and the Perry Lakes Hawks face the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves.

The Eagles and Lightning meet at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre with both coming off games on Friday night.

The Eagles will have played the Cougars at home on Friday in a bid to end their seven-game losing run while the Lightning will have faced the second placed Tigers in a game that could give an indication of how they measure up against the top sides.

The Hawks then face the Lady Wolfpack in a match up of the league-leaders and a team that wants to show they belong in the championship discussion.

The Lady Wolfpack have now won nine straight matches and lost just once so far in 2016 to sit on top of the standings entering Week 13. They have been in some ominous form as well led by All-Star Game MVP Klara Wischer, but depth is their greatest strength.

The Hawks are talented and dangerous though. They will have already played the Slammers in Eaton on Friday, but come into the weekend confident in fourth spot and looking to prove that the Wolves, Tigers and Flames above them on the table aren’t out of their league.

WEEK 13 WOMEN'S SBL FIXTURES
FRIDAY
Lakeside Lightning v Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers, Lakeside Recreation Centre 6.30pm
Print Sync South West Slammers v Perry Lakes Hawks, Eaton Recreation Centre 6.30pm
Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars v Schweigen Home Appliances East Perth Eagles, Wally Hagan Stadium 6.30pm

SATURDAY
Kalamunda Eastern Suns v Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars, Ray Owen Recreation Centre 6.30pm
Orange Autos Rockingham Flames v Bethanie Stirling Senators, Mike Barnett Sports Complex 6.30pm

SUNDAY
Schweigen Home Appliances East Perth Eagles v Lakeside Lightning, Morley Sport and Recreation Centre 12pm
Perry Lakes Hawks v Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves, Bendat Basketball Centre 12pm

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Sebpix Photography