National Finals Recap | Women Day 1

Image credit: EDITS.BY.KP

Leah Scott lifted Logan Thunder to an overtime NBL1 National Finals win in Canberra over Waverley Falcons on Friday before the NBL1 South's Knox Raiders and NBL1 West's Cockburn Cougars had dominant opening day victories.

Logan Thunder (85) defeated Waverley Falcons (81)

It took until overtime but Leah Scott and Kendell Heremaia combined for 50 points to lift the NBL1 North champions to the 85-81 win over the defending National Champion Waverley Falcons to open the National Finals for 2025.

Logan stormed to the NBL1 North championship two weeks ago by overcoming losing Game 1 of the Grand Final Series to the Southern Districts Spartans by 18 points to then win Game 2 by 29, and then claim a thriller by just two in Game 3 for the title.

They arrived in Canberra for the National Finals with most of that squad available too with Amandine Toi the only notable omission while they took on a Waverley team who won both the NBL1 South and National Finals championships last year.

The Falcons were defending that crown from the Sunshine Coast in 2024 even though their NBL1 South championship defence ended with a semi-final loss to Keilor Thunder.

Waverley also arrived in Canberra without superstar pair Bec Cole and Carley Ernst along with Amelia Todhunter, but they were still going to put everything into keeping their national title defence alive.

Even with missing all five of their three-point attempts in the first quarter, Waverley started well with 25 points to 19 in the first quarter thanks to going 9/12 inside the arc and 7/8 at the foul line.

Logan stayed in touch with shooting 3/4 from three-point range but the Falcons pulled away further in the second term with 21 points to 12 to go into half-time well in control of the contest leading 46-31.

That lead got out to 17 early in the third quarter for Waverley but that's when Logan dug deep and mounted a fightback going on a 14-0 fightback to claw all the way back and even hit the front just before three quarter-time.

That set up a big finish and in the end overtime was forced when Leah Scott made one free-throw to at least draw scores level, but she missed the second and couldn’t quite win the game for Logan.

However, in the extra period the Thunder came from three points down with 1:30 remaining to score the last seven points of the game and that included five free-throw makes to Scott who more than made up for what happened at the end of regulation.

Logan ended up shooting 45 per cent from the field to 38 from Waverley along with 9/22 from three opposed to 5/29, but the Falcons stayed with them thanks to going 16/22 at the foul line up against 12/23.

Grand Final MVP Leah Scott again starred in the win for Logan to open the National Finals with 27 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two steals while Kendell Heremaia added 23 points with 5/7 three-point shooting.

Mikaela Cann added 16 points, seven assists, five rebounds and two steals, and Sharni Reisinger seven points and five boards.

Katelyn Shumate stepped up impressively for Waverley with 22 points, six rebounds and two assists while Renae Mokrzycki finished with 21 points and five boards.

Jenna Batsch also had 14 points, two rebounds and two steals, Liana Kinkela eight points and seven boards, Sophia Locandro eight points, eight rebounds and three blocks, and Millie McCarthy five points and 11 assists as she grabbed her chance to wrap up her first season since crossing from the Perry Lakes Hawks in the NBL1 West.

LOGAN THUNDER 85 (Scott 27, Heremaia 23, Cann 16)

WAVERLEY FALCONS 81 (Shumate 22, Mokrzycki 21, Batsch 14)

Knox Raiders (70) defeated Manly Warringah Sea Eagles (42)

It was a battle of two fully powered championship winning teams and it was the NBL1 South's Knox Raiders who flexed their muscles to beat the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 70-42 to open the National Finals.

The Raiders were fresh off handing the previously undefeated Geelong United a first loss in the NBL1 South Grand Final two weeks ago to win the championship and they had all their big guns available for the National Finals in Canberra.

The Sea Eagles also had a dominant NBL1 East season on the way to the 28-point Grand Final win over the Centre of Excellence to be on a 19-game winning streak as they made the trip to Canberra for the National Finals.

It didn't take long for Knox to take control of the contest with 12 straight points in the first quarter on the way to the 20-7 lead by the end of one thanks to 8/18 shooting from the field opposed to the 3/11 from the Sea Eagles.

It was another 19 points to seven from Knox in the second quarter to see them lead 39-14 by half-time on the back of shooting 16/37 from the field but more importantly holding Manly Warringah to just 5/26.

That lead blew out to 36 points in the third quarter as well for the Raiders before they wrapped up the eventual 28-point victory to begin their National Finals campaign in ominous fashion.

It's a 15th straight win now for Knox dating back to the end of the NBL1 South season and they ended up shooting 41 per cent to 25 from Manly Warringah along with winning the rebound battle by 22 and having 15 offensive boards to four.

Kristy Wallace delivered 15 points and three assists in the win for Knox with Paige Burrows adding 14 points, three boards and three assists, and Katelyn Young 10 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots.

Agnes Emma-Nnopu also had eight points, 11 rebounds, three assists and three steals for the Raiders, and Rachel Bell eight points and five boards.

It was a tough first outing at the National Finals for Manly Warringah with Grand Final MVP Taylor Wurtz finishing with 12 points, three rebounds and two assists.

Kim Dickinson also had nine points, two rebounds and two steals, Josie Bulman nine points and 10 boards, and Alex Delaney five points, six assists, four rebounds and two steals.

KNOX RAIDERS 70 (Wallace 15, Burrows 14, Young 10)

MANLY WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES 42 (Wurtz 12, Dickinson 9, Bulman 9)

Cockburn Cougars (132) defeated Woodville Warriors (85)

The Cockburn Cougars are the lone undefeated team in all of the NBL1 across the country and the NBL1 West champions showed why with a dominant 132-85 win over the NBL1 Central's Woodville Warriors to open the National Finals.

The Cougars have now played in three straight NBL1 West Grand Finals for championships in 2023 and 2025, and they arrive in Canberra having won all 23 of their games this season including a win at RAC Arena in the decider last Saturday night against the Warwick Senators.

Cockburn did arrive at the National Finals without a couple of key players, import Daniel Raber and college bound Amelia Corasaniti, but they weren’t shy on weapons with Steph Gorman, Jewel Williams, Ruby Porter and Jaya Scafidi all having WNBL experience.

Woodville arrived having won the NBL1 Central championship with the fairytale story of Erin Phillips leading the way. However, she wasn’t on hand to play in Canberra and nor were her championship teammates Jordan Hunter, Laura Erikstrup and Ida Andersson.

That was always going to make it tough for them to take it up to the powerful Cockburn outfit and it proved to be the case with a hot start from the Cougars already opening up a 34-19 lead by quarter-time.

Cockburn knocked down 5/12 from three to 1/5 in that opening period before adding another 35 points to 21 in the second period to be on top 69-40 going into half-time.

In that first half, the Cougars shot 24/52 from the field with 11/28 from three to the 14/42 from the Warriors who also had just 3/15 from downtown.

It was another 34 points to 25 in the third quarter from Cockburn, and 29 to 20 in the fourth as they ended up scoring the 47-point win to move to 24-0 in 2025 and make quite the statement to open the National Finals.

The Cougars got up 101 shot attempts for the game and shot at 47 per cent along with going 16/46 three-point range with 22/33 from the foul line. The Warriors still took 89 shots with 37 per cent while hitting 7/34 from three-point territory and 12/12 at the free-throw line.

Cockburn also had 26 offensive rebounds while forcing Woodville into 26 turnovers and NBL1 West Grand Final MVP Ruby Porter was brilliant once again with 34 points, nine steals, three rebounds and three assists with 6/10 three-point shooting.

Sarah Mortensen added 27 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and four steals, Jessie Edwards 23 points, 14 boards, four assists and four blocks, Jewel Williams 17 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals, and Steph Gorman 11 points, three assists and two boards.

It was a tough outing for the Warriors with Naomi Allotey top-scoring with 26 points to go with 19 rebounds and six assists.

Ambah Kowcun also had 18 points, six rebounds and four steals, Casey Real 11 points, Jasmin Fejo 10 points, seven assists, six rebounds and two steals, Eliza Joynes eight points and seven boards, and Chelsea Apacible eight points and two assists.

COCKBURN COUGARS 132 (Porter 34, Mortensen 27, Edwards 23)

WOODVILLE WARRIORS 85 (Allotey 26, Kowcun 18, Real 11)