THE defending champion Rockingham Flames beat the Willetton Tigers in their top-of-the-table women's SBL clash on Saturday night while the Lakeside Lightning fell agonisingly short of a second straight win losing to the Mandurah Magic by a point on Friday night.

The four women's SBL matches on Friday night saw the Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars beat the Perth Redbacks 79-73 at Wally Hagan Stadium and the Kalamunda Eastern Suns down the Perry Lakes Hawks 68-63 at Bendat Basketball Centre.

The Mandurah Magic then won another thriller 76-75 over the Lakeside Lightning at Lakeside Recreation Centre and the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers scored a big 85-46 win over the Stirling Senators at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

The three women's matches on Saturday were highlighted by the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames beating the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 78-74 in the top-of-the-table clash at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

The Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves also defeated the Schweigen East Perth Eagles 93-45 at Joondalup Basketball Stadium and the Perth Redbacks downed the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 50-45 at Curtin Stadium.

The weekend's results leave the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames (10-1) on top of the standings just ahead of the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers (10-2).

The Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves (9-2) are then just one game further back followed by the Mandurah Magic (9-3).

There is then a handy gap between the top four and the rest of the top eight with those positions made up of the Perry Lakes Hawks (6-5), Kalamunda Eastern Suns (5-5), Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars (6-7) and Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers (5-6).

Outside the playoff positions are the Perth Redbacks (3-9), Schweigen East Perth Eagles (2-9), Stirling Senators (2-9) and Lakeside Lightning (1-10).

There were again some outstanding individual performances across the Friday and Saturday night in the women's SBL.

It began on Friday night where Katie Loberg put together a stunning and dominant performance finishing with 36 points and seven rebounds on the back of shooting 16-of-20 from the field for the Cougars.

Playing-coach Deanna Smith also had 28 points, 11 rebounds, two assists and two steals for Cockburn with Taryn Priestly adding seven points and five assists.

Meike Elkington led the way for the Redbacks with 23 points, four steals, three rebounds and three assists while Gabby O'Sullivan made an impact off the bench with 12 points, five assists and two rebounds while playing almost 36 minutes of court time.

Gaby Clayton added 11 points for Perth and Jess Jakens 10 to go with six rebounds and three assists. Alix Hayward added 10 points, three boards and two assists.

Abbey Duinker led the way for the Eastern Suns with 24 points, 14 rebounds and four assists while shooting 10-of-15 from the floor, 1-of-1 from three-point land and 3-of-3 from the charity stripe.

Melissa Moyle contributed 13 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals as well for Kalamunda while Thea Lemberger finished with 13 points, seven assists and five boards.

Natalia Soli'ai added eight points, five boards, three assists and three steals off the bench as well for Kalamunda with Jessie Edwards ending the night with five points, nine boards and a stunning seven blocks.

Sarah Donovan top-scored for the Hawks off the bench with 14 points to go with seven rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots.

Kassi Conditt added 12 points, four boards, two assists, two steals and two blocks as well for Perry Lakes with Danika Pisconeri finishing the night with 11 points and 10 boards, and Lauren Jeffers with 10 points, six rebounds and five assists.

Ashlee Sidebottom had a tremendous night for the Magic finishing with 25 points, eight rebounds and five assists while shooting 10-of-17 from the floor and a perfect 5-of-5 from the free-throw line.

Casey Mihovilovich added 22 points, six boards, six assists and five steals in another outstanding performance for Mandurah as well with Emma Klasztorny contributing five points and eight boards off the bench.

Ashleigh Grant again top-scored for the Lightning with another 18 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals with Megan Craig contributing 17 points and eight boards.

Amanda Pether added 14 points off the bench while Tia Ucich also finished with eight points, seven rebounds and two assists.

Lisa Wallbutton finished with 16 points, nine rebounds and three assists off the bench for Willetton with Louella Tomlinson adding 16 points, five assists, four boards and two blocked shots. Both of them shot for a combined 15-of-22 from the field as well in impressive performances.

Kate Malpass added 10 points and six rebounds as well for the Tigers while Emma Gandini contributed seven points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals off the bench.

Amber Land top-scored for the Senators with 15 points and six rebounds while Tegan Walker finished with 10 points, eight boards and two assists. Bridget Henderson contributed six points and nine rebounds off the bench.

Then on Saturday night, Samantha Whitcomb top-scored for the Flames with 19 points, six rebounds and four assists with Darcee Garbin adding 17 points and five boards.

Jacinta Bourne also finished with 15 points, six boards, six assists and three steals for Rockingham while hitting 3-of-5 from beyond the arc.

Tarsha Fletcher contributed 11 points also for the Flames with Talisia Bourne adding nine points and six boards, and Lizel Buckley five points and nine rebounds.

Kate Malpass did all she could for the Tigers finishing the night with 25 points and seven rebounds with Louella Tomlinson adding 15 points, six boards, five blocked shots and two assists.

Ebony Antonio also added 13 points and five assists with Willetton with Desiree Kelley contributing six points and four rebounds, and Lisa Wallbutton four points and 11 boards.

Gaby Clayton led the way for Perth with 17 points and eight rebounds with Jess Jakens contributing 12 points, eight boards and four steals.

Alix Hayward contributed four points and 11 rebounds, Meike Elkington four points, 11 boards and four steals, and Lauren Hall six points and seven rebounds.

Patricia Bright did all she could for the Slammers ending up with 19 points, 15 rebounds and three blocked shots with Deanica McCormick adding 15 points, three boards, three assists and three steals but they didn’t have enough help scoring 34 of South West's 45 points.

The Lady Wolfpack scored a thumping 48-point win over the Eagles at home on Saturday night with Rebecca Mercer returning to the starting line-up and ending up the top-scorer with 23 points, five assists and four rebounds while shooting 9-of-19 from the field and 4-of-9 from downtown.

Nikita-Lee Martin also added 20 points, eight boards, three assists and two steals for the Wolves with Casey Lockwood contributing 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists, Shani Amos 13 points, seven boards, six assists and three steals, and Alex Kerr 10 points and eight rebounds.

Nicole Jorre St Jorre led the way for the Eagles with 14 points and six rebounds but no other East Perth player scored more than seven points or had more than six boards.

FRIDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars 79 defeated Perth Redbacks 73
Perry Lakes Hawks 63 lost to Kalamunda Eastern Suns 68
Lakeside Lightning 75 lost to Mandurah Magic 76
Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 85 defeated Stirling Senators 46

SATURDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves 93 defeated Schweigen East Perth Eagles 45
Perth Redbacks 50 defeated Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 45
Orange Autos Rockingham Flames 78 defeated Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 74

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Mick Cronin