NBL1 East Recap | Saturday Women's Round 16

Nicole Munger put together the most remarkable individual performance of the NBL1 East season putting up 53 points on Saturday night for the Newcastle Falcons as part of the Round 16 action.

Munger's performance helped Newcastle to the Saturday night Round 16 win with the other winners in the NBL1 East being the Illawarra Hawks, Albury-Wodonga Bandits, Norths Bears and Sutherland Sharks.

The Saturday action in the NBL1 East Women's competition for Round 16 began with a thriller as the Illawarra Hawks beat the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 76-75.

In the end, it was a Tyler Scaife free-throw that broke the deadlock in the dying seconds to give the Hawks the victory.

On top of game winning free-throw, Scaife finished with 21 points for Illawarra while Georgia Ohrdorf had 15 points and Rebecca Abel 14.

Kim Hodge top-scored for Manly-Warringah with 24 points to go with seven rebounds, five steals and three assists.

The Sutherland Sharks scored a commanding win on the road to the Maitland Mustangs, ending up winning 98-55.

Madeleine Norris delivered 25 points, five rebounds and four assists for the Sharks with Vanessa Panousis adding 19 points, five boards, three assists and three steals.

Hannah Griffin scored 18 points for the Leilani Mitchell-coached Maitland with Mikaela Dombkins adding 16 points and 19 rebounds.

The Norths Bears put together a big second half to also win on the road, beating the Hills Hornets 81-59.

Carla Pitman delivered 22 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals in the win for the Bears while Rhiannon Yetsenga put up 19 points and 14 rebounds for the Hornets.

The Albury-Wodonga Bandits kept their winning run going even without Lauren Jackson by beating the Canberra Nationals 90-79 at Lauren Jackson Sports Centre.

Unique Thompson delivered 33 points and 18 rebounds for the Bandits with Ai Yamada adding 30 points, eight boards and 10 assists. Lizzy Tonks kept up her tremendous form for Canberra with 31 points and five three-pointers.

The Newcastle Falcons put together a dominant showing to beat the Inner West Bulls 110-49.

Nicole Munger had a remarkable night with 53 points on 20/25 shooting from the field and 6/9 from three-point land. Chyra Evans also had 24 points, six rebounds, six steals, three assists and three blocked shots.

Jade Yeomans finished with a double-double for Inner West made up of 16 points and 10 rebounds.

There is then the one match to come to wrap up Round 16 in the NBL1 East with the Norths Bears hosting the Newcastle Falcons from midday.

NBL1 EAST – 2022 WOMEN'S SEASON
ROUND 16 – SATURDAY 

MANLY-WARRINGAH SEA EAGLES 75 lost to ILLAWARRA HAWKS 76
The Illawarra Hawks prevailed in a thriller against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles on Saturday afternoon to open Round 16 in the NBL1 East season.

The Sea Eagles played host to the Hawks on Saturday afternoon at Northern Beaches Indoor Sports Centre and the two teams ended up playing out a thriller.

By the end of the first quarter it was Illawarra holding a narrow 17-15 lead and they were able to push that out to a double-digit advantage during the second term.

However, Manly-Warringah fired back with their own 12-0 run to briefly grab the lead before it was the Hawks still clinging to a 37-31 advantage by half-time.

Illawarra once again threatened to blow the game wide open in the third term with another run of 14 consecutive points and that meant their lead was out to a game-high 16 points.

However, once again the Sea Eagles fired back with a 7-0 run and that meant the margin was still just six by three quarter-time.

That set up a thrilling finish even though Manly-Warringah found themselves 12 points down with six minutes to play.

From there, the Sea Eagles got on a roll and when Bree Delaney drained a three-pointer, the margin was just three points with a minute to play. 

Kim Hodge then made a pair of free-throws with 11 seconds left to tie scores up. But just as the game looked as though it was heading to overtime, Tyler Scaife was fouled and she converted one at the line to give Illawarra the 76-75 victory.

The victory improves the Hawks to a 10-6 record on the season in fifth position with two rounds of the regular season remaining while the Sea Eagles are 10-8 in sixth spot following the defeat.

Tyler Scaife ended up top-scoring for Illawarra with 21 points on the back of shooting 5/10 from the field and 8/11 from the foul line.

Georgia Ohrdorf added 15 points and six rebounds, Rebecca Abel 14 points and five boards, Asha Phillips 13 points, and Ella Dent six points and five assists.

Kim Hodge ended up with 24 points, seven rebounds, five steals and three assists for the Sea Eagles while Alex Delaney contributed 16 points and six boards, and Bree Delaney 10 points, six rebounds and three assists.

 

INNER WEST BULLS 49 lost to NEWCASTLE FALCONS 110

The Newcastle Falcons produced a dominant performance against the winless Inner West Bulls on Saturday to maintain their hold on a top four position in the NBL1 East.

The winless Bulls were back at home at ELS Hall Park in Round 16 NBL1 East action but the Falcons weren’t in the mood for mercy knowing they needed to keep winning to maintain their top four spot.

Newcastle dominated right from the outset with a commanding performance in the first quarter. The Falcons hit 20 straight points at one point and by quarter-time had put 40 points on the board and were 30 in front of the Bulls.

It was another 17 points to seven in the second quarter for Newcastle and they went on with the job with 32 points to 20 in the third, and 21 to 12 in the fourth to end up winning 110-49.

The result sees the Falcons improve to 12-5 in fourth position on the table with two rounds remaining while they also are on the road to the Norths Bears on Sunday. The Bulls are now 0-19 on the season.

Newcastle collected 48 rebounds to 35 for the game while shooting 52.6 per cent from the field opposed to 34.4 along with hitting 12/26 from three-point range compared with 1/10 from Inner West.

It was just a remarkable individual performance from Nicole Munger who finished with 53 points, seven rebounds, six steals and five assists on the back of shooting 20/25 from the floor, 6/9 from downtown and 7/12 from the foul line.

Chyra Evans added 24 points, six rebounds and six steals for the Falcons, Megan Johnson 16 points and six boards, and Jessica Relf seven points and five rebounds.

Jade Yeomans top-scored for Inner West with 16 points and 10 rebounds while LaShayla Wright-Ponder added 11 points and five rebounds.

 

MAITLAND MUSTANGS 55 lost to SUTHERLAND SHARKS 98

The Sutherland Sharks put together a commanding performance on the road on Saturday to beat the Maitland Mustangs by 43 points.

Round 16 in the NBL1 East saw the Mustangs play host to the Sharks at Maitland Federation Centre, but it was the visitors who started the better going on to score 10 straight points to lead by 15 already at quarter-time.

It was an even more emphatic second period from Sutherland as they put on a 17-0 run to outscore the Mustangs 29 points to six and to lead by as much as 38 points to go into the half-time break on top 54-16.

Sutherland turned that scoring streak into a 23-0 run in the third quarter with the lead ballooning out to 46 points and they would go on to claim the 98-55 victory.

The 43-point win improves the Sharks to a 13-4 record on the season in third position while Maitland is now 3-14 following the defeat.

It was a tremendous shooting performance on the night from Sutherland as they went 51.8 per cent as a team while also hitting 46.2 per cent from downtown. Maitland went at 46.2 per cent from the floor and 21.1 per cent beyond the arc.

Madeleine Norris ended up top-scoring for the Sharks with 25 points, five rebounds and four assists on 4/7 shooting from three-point land.

Vanessa Panousis added 19 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals, Lauren Nicholson 14 points, 11 assists, five boards and five steals, and Jordyn Dewhurst seven points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals.

Hannah Griffin finished with 18 points and five rebounds for Maitland with Mikaela Dombkins doing all she could with 16 points, 19 boards and four assists. Mila Wawszkowicz also had eight points and seven rebounds.

 

HILLS HORNETS 59 lost to NORTHS BEARS 81

The Norths Bears maintained second spot on the NBL1 East Women's standings with a 22-point road win over the Hills Hornets on Saturday.

The Hornets were back home in Round 16 of the NBL1 East at Hills Basketball Stadium and it was the Bears who started well ending the first quarter on a 5-0 run to lead by those five points.

Scoring became more of a challenge for both teams in the second quarter with just the combined 17 points, but it was Norths who narrowly extended their lead going into half-time to be on top 29-21.

Scoring really picked up for both teams in the third period as they combined for 48 points and it was the Bears who remained on top going on an 8-0 run to lead by as much as 18 points at one stage.

Norths were still on top 56-42 by three quarter before adding another 25 points to 17 in the fourth term to take out the 81-59 victory.

The win improves the Bears to a 14-3 record on the season in second position ahead of a tantalising Sunday match up at home to the fourth placed Newcastle Falcons.

The Hornets are now 7-11 in eighth position following the defeat at home.

The shooting was the major difference between the two teams with the Bears going at 43.4 per cent as a team opposed to 35.2 from the Hornets. Norths also knocked down 10/26 from downtown and Hills 6/26.

Carla Pitman ended the game with 22 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals for the Bears while knocking down 4/6 from the land of plenty.

Sarah Schicher added 12 points, 12 rebounds and three assists for the Bears with Riley Evans contributing 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists, and Jasmine Forcadilla 10 points, three boards and two assists.

Rhiannon Yetsenga top-scored for the Hornets with 19 points and 14 rebounds with Taryn Mahoney contributing 15 points, six rebounds, five steals and three assists, and Kelsey Curtin 10 points.

Erica Pitman also had eight points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals.

 

ALBURY-WODONGA BANDITS 90 defeated CANBERRA NATIONALS 79

The Albury-Wodonga Bandits managed to maintain their hold on top spot in the NBL1 East with an 11-point home win over the Canberra Nationals.

The Bandits were back home on Saturday in Round 16 of the NBL1 East at Lauren Jackson Sports Centre up against the Nationals, and despite the absence of Lauren Jackson through Australian Opals commitments, they soon worked their way on top.

Albury-Wodonga finished the opening quarter strongly with a 7-0 record to lead by nine, and still be up 27-19 by quarter-time.

The Bandits lead grew to 14 points during the second term and by half-time they remained in control leading 43-32.

Canberra were able to stick with Albury-Wodonga for much of the second half, but could never really close the gap enough to pose a genuine threat of knocking off the league-leaders.

That meant the Bandits went on to win 90-79 to improve to a 15-2 record to remain clear on top of the NBL1 East standings. The Nationals are now 7-10 in seventh position following the defeat.

Unique Thompson continued to step up in dominant fashion for Albury-Wodonga in the absence of Lauren Jackson. She delivered another 33 points and 18 rebounds on shooting 14/18 from the floor in Saturday's win.

Ai Yamada added 30 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds for the Bandits on the back of knocking down 5/10 from three-point land.

Amelia Hassett added 17 points, five rebounds and four assists, and Brodie Paige-Theodore seven points, five boards, four assists and two steals.

Lizzy Tonks continued her standout form even if she couldn’t quite lift Canberra to the win, finishing with 31 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals while hitting 5/7 from downtown.

Abby Solway added 22 points with 6/12 shooting from deep while Kristen Langhorn had nine points and 10 rebounds, and Mia Slater seven points and 10 boards.