NBL1 Central Recap | Women's Round 10

Like Lightning soars Simons: Adelaide Lightning WNBL player Sam Simons dropped 6 of the final 8 points to soar the Eagles to an upset win over the Tigers  | Photo credit Judit Howard

Saturday 18/06/22

Southern Tigers vs Forestville Eagles

Simons soars Eagles to crucial win

Some late buckets from superstar Sam Simons soared the Eagles to an upset 71-78 win over the Southern Tigers at the Cage. Simons dropped 6 of the last 8 points of the match to finish with 23 points and 9 rebounds and along with Rachel Hines 20 points and 7 rebounds helped secure a crucial win for the away side. The Tigers minus Morgan Yaeger (injury) were led by Mollie McKendrick with 22 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists, a double double from Jaedyn De La Cerda with 16 points, 11 rebounds, 5 rebounds and 4 steals and Demi Skinner with 18 points. The game changed leads multiple times with the Eagles taking a 12-20 first quarter lead before the Tigers clawed back to 38-38 at the half. The Eagles then through Hines (12 points for the quarter) grabbed the lead back at three quarter time with a 52-60 lead. The Tigers bounced back but Simons closed it out in the finish.   

Eastern Mavericks vs Sturt Sabres

Sharp shooting Sabres shutdown Mavs  

Two quarters of sharp shooting from the field and beyond the perimeter respectively setup a solid 52-86 win for the Sturt Sabres over the Eastern Mavericks at the shooting gallery. The Sabres dropped 60 percent from the field in their second quarter 9-24 before then nailing a few more in the third 9-20 from beyond the arc at 57 percent. Nicola Mathews went four from four beyond the arc to finish with 16 points while it was another dominant night from import Mikayla Williams with 14 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals and assists as eleven Sabres hit the scoreboard for the night. Missing Olivia Bradley and Kaila Gabriel, the Mavs struggled for winners with Brigitte Lefebvre-Okankwu the clear best with a game high 24 points and 8 rebounds while Chloe Dumesny provided 9 points and 10 rebounds to just miss her first double double of the season.

Woodville Warriors vs North Adelaide Rockets

Winter storm hits Rockets for Warriors win 

Star Emily Winter produced arguably her best game of the season as the Warriors willed their way over the North Adelaide Rockets 82-64 at the Castle. Winter cooled any Rockets comeback in the second half scoring 22 of her 25 points when her team most needed to go with 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals. Captain Katherine Perkas had a season high double double of 22 points, 13 rebounds and 9 assists in the other outstanding performance of the night along with Regan Tunour-McCarty with 14 points and 5 assists. The Rockets minus Sammy “DeFran” Francesco again were paced by double doubles to Lauren Badenoch (15 points and 10 rebounds) and Tayla Corrigan (15 points and 13 rebounds).

Central District Lions vs West Adelaide Bearcats (Kayo Game of the Week)

Bearcats fight off tough Lions outfit

It took till the fourth quarter to finally shake them, but the West Adelaide Bearcats secured another important road win 65-76 at the Den. A 0-9 run in the final term after the Lions closed it to a single digit early in the fourth through Raynisha Washington (20 points) was engineered by the everything woman in Jasmine Simmons (10 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals) with Jasmin Fejo (14 points, 9 rebounds with 4 offensive and 6 assists) putting the finishing touched on the hard-fought victory. Casey Samuels also kept the Lions in touch with 20 points (16 in the first half) and 8 rebounds as did Tyla Bennett with a 12 point at 75 percent and 11 rebound double double. Jennie Rintala was also influential for the Bearcats with 16 points and 9 rebounds. Bearcat import Madelynn Utti also debuted with 9 points and 6 rebounds in an encouraging display.      

South Adelaide Panthers vs Norwood Flames

Flames fuel fourth quarter to run over Panthers

A fourth quarter devasting run of 0-18 fuelled the Norwood Flames finish as they ran over the depleted Panthers 56-76 at their new home of the Jungle. Brooke Basham and Ally Wilson were incredible across the first three quarters with Basham dropping 20 points, 7 rebound and 5 assists and Wilson a double double of 19 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists. The Flames did their damage through fast break points with 15 and second chance points with 13  The Panthers minus Ash “Splash” Spencer and with other noticeable gaps were only covered by Jade Johnson with 21 points and Jordan Hunter came up with a much-needed contribution of 12 points and 6 rebounds. Holly Forbes made her debut and showed some signs in her 6 point and 6 rebound debut.