Eagles Recap | Round 12 Women

Image credit: Mark Filpo (@codexdesignstudio)

The East Perth Eagles women split their first of two straight NBL1 West double-headers but the Friday night win at home against the Perth Redbacks keeps them right in the top four race.

With the Redbacks currently sitting inside the top four, the Eagles are trying to chase them down and took a step towards achieving that with Friday night's 96-84 win at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre.

While the Cockburn Cougars then defeated East Perth 107-72 on Saturday evening at Wally Hagan Stadium, the Eagles now sit on an 8-5 record to remain in fifth position ahead of a home clash with the Perry Lakes Hawks this Friday and then being away to the Lakeside Lightning on Saturday.

EAGLES RD 12 PREVIEW | FRIDAY, SATURDAY DOUBLE

EAGLES TAKE COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY AHEAD OF DOUBLES

FRIDAY

With both teams missing a WNBL superstar each with no Emma Clarke or Anneli Maley playing, it set up a fascinating between two teams fighting over a top four spot and the Eagles prevailed 96-84 over the Redbacks.

Sasha Goodlett, Madi Torresin, Awatea Leach and Abby Cubillo all dug deep to play virtually the whole game and deliver the Eagles the crucial 12-point home win.

The Eagles and Redbacks remain locked in a battle over a top four position in the NBL1 West heightening the stakes when they locked horns on Friday night at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre.

They had met only three weeks ago at Belmont Oasis where the Redbacks came from behind to win on the back of a big fourth quarter, and adding to the intrigue on Friday was the absence of a key player on either side.

The Redbacks were without MVP fancy Anneli Maley who is with the Australian Gangurrus team at the FIBA 3x3 World Cup in Mongolia while Emma Clarke didn’t play with an eye to being able to be out there on Saturday for the Eagles given her minutes restriction on return from a knee injury.

Patty Brossmann did return for the Redbacks after missing the past two games and she had 14 points in the first quarter alone to help Perth to the 23-18 quarter-time lead.

The Eagles were able to turn the tide in the second term and it was all thanks to going inside. They only attempted two three-pointers for the quarter, but shot 7/14 inside the paint and got to the foul line eight times for 29 points to 21 to be leading 47-44 at the half.

East Perth were then only clinging to a two-point lead by three quarter-time, but it was then all the Eagles in the fourth frame with 28 points to 18 as they secured the important 12-point victory.

Eagles coach Tim Symons had to call on his four big guns to put in a whole hearted performance and they were up to the task with Abby Cubillo playing all 40 minutes for 23 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

Sasha Goodlett played 37:51 for 24 points, 15 rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots with Madi Torresin playing 37:40 with 20 points, six boards, four assists and two steals, and Awatea Leach played 36:41 for 20 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and four steals.

Captain Tessa Morrison also played 13 minutes for two points and three assists with Taylor Roberts putting up three points, two rebounds, an assist and a steal, and Ari van Vilet four points and a rebound.

SATURDAY

The Eagles were the latest team to try and topple the undefeated Cockburn on Saturday at Wally Hagan and they did get right back in the contest in the third quarter, but the Cougars pulled away to win 107-72.

Both teams arrived at Wally Hagan Stadium coming off big Friday night wins with the Cougars heading south to beat the South West Slammers by 52 points while the Eagles scored a 12-point win at home against the Perth Redbacks.

With Emma Clarke also still on a minutes restriction coming back from a knee injury, she didn't play for East Perth on Friday and came back in for the clash with the undefeated Cougars, but Cockburn already had a 31-23 lead by the end of the first quarter.

It was another 27 points to 14 in the second term from the Cougars and they ended up leading by as much as 24 points before going into the half-time break on top 58-37.

The Eagles did mount a fightback in the third quarter and managed to put together a run of scoring 11 straight points to get the deficit back to 10, but Cockburn were able to pull away again to be leading by 24 points at three quarter-time.

It was then 29 points to 12 in the last quarter from the Cougars as they scored the 35-point win to improve to a perfect 14-0 record on the season to maintain their gap in top spot.

The Eagles split their double-header weekend to be 8-5 and still solid in a playoff spot, but outside a top four position.

Awatea Leach top-scored for East Perth with 17 points, six rebounds and five assists with Sasha Goodlett adding 16 points and 10 boards, Abby Cubillo 16 points and five assists, and Madi Torresin eight points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Emma Clarke finished with seven points, five rebounds and two steals in just over 25 minutes while Taylor Roberts had three points, Tessa Morrison two points and an assist, Ari van Vilet two points and two rebounds, Aleka Kabugua one point and a rebound.