NBL1 East Recap | Saturday Women's Round 11

There were stunning performances from Mikaela Dombkins, Chyra Evans, Unique Thompson, Lauren Nicholson and Georgia Ohrdorf in Saturday night Round 11 NBL1 East Women's victories.

There were wins on Saturday night for the Maitland Mustangs, Newcastle Falcons, Albury-Wodonga Bandits, Sutherland Sharks and the Illawarra Hawks.

All five Round 11 NBL1 East matches took place on Saturday beginning with the Maitland Mustangs defeating the Inner West Bulls 84-69.

Mikaela Dombkins was a dominant force for the Mustangs in the win with 35 points and 22 rebounds. Daphne Frieson had 16 points and seven boards.

It was a nail-biter at Newcastle Basketball Stadium with the Newcastle Falcons holding out the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles for the 75-73 victory.

Chyra Evans finished with 24 points and 17 rebounds in the win for Newcastle with Kim Hodge putting up 32 points for the Sea Eagles.

It was another tight affair at Lauren Jackson Sports Centre and even without Lauren Jackson, the Albury-Wodonga Raiders defeated the Central Coast Crusaders 92-87.

Unique Thompson was massive for the Bandits with 38 points and 10 rebounds with Sara Matthews delivering 27 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Crusaders.

The Sutherland Sharks proved too strong on their home floor for the Canberra Nationals, winning 88-71.

Lauren Nicholson produced a standout all-round individual performance with 28 points, 10 rebounds, six steals and five assists. Lizzy Tonks produced 21 points and 12 rebounds for Canberra.

The Illawarra Hawks scored a thumping 85-62 win at home to the Hills Hornets.

Georgia Ohrdorf had 21 points and eight rebounds for Illawarra in the victory while Cassandra Pentney had 16 points and seven boards for the losers.

NBL1 EAST – 2022 WOMEN'S SEASON
ROUND 11 – SATURDAY NIGHT

MAITLAND MUSTANGS 84 defeated INNER WEST BULLS 69

The Maitland Mustangs started well and converted that into a 15-point home win against the Inner West Bulls.

The Mustangs played host to the Bulls at Maitland Federation Centre in Saturday night's Round 11 NBL1 East action.

Maitland started impressively on their home court opening up a 12-point lead during the first quarter and to still be on top 23-12 by the end of one.

The home team further asserted their control on the match up with a 7-0 run in the second term to lead by as much as 20 and then to go into the half-time break in control leading 42-26.

It was more of the same in the second half with Maitland's lead growing to 27 points in the third quarter. To Inner West's credit they did fight the game out strongly going on a 10-0 run but Maitland still prevailed 84-69.

The result improves the Mustangs to a 3-9 record on the season after Round 11 while the Bulls are still chasing that elusive first victory at 0-12.

The Leilani Mitchell-coached Maitland got their third win of the season on the back of a massive performance from Mikaela Dombkins who delivered 35 points, 22 rebounds and five assists.

Mila Wawszkowicz added 12 points and seven rebounds for the Mustangs, Hannah Griffin 12 points and four boards, and Daila Walker eight points and four assists.

Daphnee Frieson finished with 16 points and seven rebounds for Inner West while Georgia Stirton contributed 11 points and 12 boards, and Rachel Kemp 10 points and five rebounds. 

 

NEWCASTLE FALCONS 75 defeated MANLY-WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES 73

The Newcastle Falcons held out the fast finishing Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles for a two-point home win on Saturday night.

The Falcons hosted the Sea Eagles at Newcastle Basketball Stadium but it was the visitors who started the better and by quarter-time were leading 23-19.

Manly-Warringah extended their advantage to eight points during the second period as well before Newcastle was able to work back into the contest and trail by just a point at the major break.

Newcastle then took over in stunning fashion in the third quarter putting together a 15-0 run to open up a 16-point lead.

In the end it was a triple from Nicole Munger with two minutes to play that wrapped up the win for Newcastle even though two late threes for the Sea Eagles to Holly Wills and Kim Hodge made for a tight 75-73 final scoreline.

The Falcons pulled down 47 rebounds for the night opposed to 32 from the Sea Eagles while they ended up attempting 17 free-throws to three for the game.

Chyra Evans ended the evening with 24 points, 17 rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots for Newcastle with Nicole Munger contributing 23 points and seven boards, and Emily Foy 13 points and five rebounds.

Kate Kingham also had nine points, six assists and four rebounds in the win for the Falcons.

Kim Hodge did all she could to lift Manly-Warringah with 32 points on 15/25 shooting with Alex Delaney contributing 22 points, seven boards, six steals, five assists and two blocked shots.

 

ALBURY-WODONGA BANDITS 92 defeated CENTRAL COAST CRUSADERS 87

Despite no Lauren Jackson, the Albury-Wodonga Bandits were still able to score a five-point win on Saturday night over the Central Coast Crusaders.

The Bandits took on the Crusaders at Lauren Jackson Sports Centre but were without their legendary superstar who has come out of retirement this year in such spectacular style she's now been included in the Australian Opals squad ahead of the upcoming FIBA World Cup.

She wasn’t there on Saturday night and it was a tight battle for the Bandits with the Crusaders the entire way.

While Albury-Wodonga did start on fire to lead by 12 points in the first quarter, Central Coast hit back and by quarter-time scores were tied at 24-24.

The Bandits did go on another 9-0 run in the second quarter to go into half-time leading 43-37, but the Crusaders just wouldn’t go away.

The margin was just five points at three quarter-time but the Bandits were able to hold firm on their home court to end up winning 92-87 and improve them to a 9-2 record on the season while the Crusaders are now 2-10 following the defeat.

Unique Thompson stepped up big time for the Bandits in the absence of Lauren Jackson to deliver 38 points, 10 rebounds and three steals on shooting 13/24 from the floor and 11/13 from the foul line.

Ai Yamada also finished with 23 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals for Albury-Wodonga with Amelia Hassett contributing 18 points and 12 boards, and Brodie-Paige Theodore nine points, seven assists, six rebounds and two steals.

Sara Matthews put up 27 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for Central Coast with Darneka Rowe contributing 19 points and four boards, Jonalyn Wittwer 15 points and six rebounds, and Mikaela Miller 12 points and four boards.

 

SUTHERLAND SHARKS 88 defeated CANBERRA NATIONALS 71

The Sutherland Sharks continued their strong form this NBL1 East with a 17-point win at home on Saturday night against the Canberra Nationals.

The Sharks played host to the Nationals at Sutherland Basketball Stadium in Round 11 of the NBL1 East season and the home team started well finishing the first period with 10 straight points to lead 26-16 by quarter-time.

Another 6-0 in the second stanza saw Sutherland's lead grow to 16 points and they were still leading 46-30 by the half-time interval.

The Sharks' lead did get out to as much as 20 points during the second half before they settled on the eventual 88-71 victory.

The win improves Sutherland to a 9-3 record on the season by the end of Round 11 while the Nationals are now struggling a little at 4-8.

Lauren Nicholson produced a dominant display for the Sharks in the win finishing the evening with 28 points, 10 rebounds, six steals and five assists on 10/16 shooting from the floor and 5/6 at the charity stripe.

Vanessa Panousis added 22 points, eight assists and five rebounds for Sutherland, Courtney West nine points and two blocked shots, and Olivia White seven points and 10 rebounds.

Lizzy Tonks put up 21 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two steals for Canberra with Abby Solway contributing 16 points, five rebounds and three steals, and Jasmyn Boutzos 16 points and four boards.

 

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 85 defeated HILLS HORNETS 62

The Illawarra Hawks delivered a dominant performance at home on Saturday night to beat the Hills Hornets by 23 points.

The Hawks played host to the Hornets in Round 11 of the NBL1 East season at The Snakepit, and the home had to come from behind for a lot of the opening quarter before heading into the first break on top 26-25.

Illawarra would dominate the contest the rest of the way including scoring 10 consecutive points in the second period to see their lead grow to 15 and they were in control leading 49-34 by the half-time interval.

In the end, the Hawks' lead blew out to as much as 26 points after a 12-0 run in the fourth period and they went on to score the eventual 85-62 victory.

The victory improves the Hawks to a 9-3 lead on the season after Round 11 while the Hornets are now 5-8.

Georgia Ohrdorf led the charge in the win for Illawarra with 21 points to go with eight rebounds and two steals on 7/12 shooting from the floor and 7/8 from the free-throw line.

Tyler Scaife added 20 points, six rebounds, four steals and three assists, Georgia Chrystal-Foy 11 points, five boards, five assists and two blocked shots, and Asha Phillips 10 points, four boards and two assists.

 Cassandra Pentney fought hard for the Hornets finishing with 16 points and seven rebounds with Taryn Mahoney contributing 13 points, six steals, five rebounds, three assists and three blocks.

Erica Pitman added 13 points and five rebounds with Rhiannon Yetsenga adding 10 points and 11 boards.