NBL1 North Recap | Friday Women's Round 13

With Penina Davidson and Mikaela Ruef leading the way for their teams, there were Friday night NBL1 North victories for the Cairns Dolphins and Logan Thunder to open Round 13.

Starting on Friday night in the NBL1 North, the Cairns Dolphins held off the Brisbane Capitals despite the absence of Cayla George and losing Alessandra Burke to win 76-68.

Penina Davidson delivered 24 points, 16 rebounds, five assists, five steals and two blocks in a huge stand up performance for Cairns with Anna Cameron finishing with 18 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and two blocks for Brisbane.

The Logan Thunder continued their undefeated season with a thumping 117-52 victory against the Rockhampton Cyclones on the back of holding the visitors to just 18 first half points.

Mikaela Ruef continued her dominant form for Logan with a triple-double made up of 32 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists with Ashley Taia adding 25 points, nine boards and five assists. Sara Storeshaw scored 16 points for Rockhampton.

Round 13 in the NBL1 North Women's competition continues on Saturday evening at 5pm with the Gold Coast Rollers at home to the North Gold Coast Seahawks and the Northside Wizards taking on the Cairns Dolphins.

Then at 5.30pm, the Red City Roar play the Rockhampton Cyclones and the South West Metro Pirates are at home to USC Rip City before at 6pm the Sunshine Coast Phoenix face the Darwin Salties and the Townsville Flames face the Mackay Meteorettes.

Then on Sunday, the Ipswich Force face the Rockhampton Cyclones with USC Rip City hosting the Darwin Salties and Southern Districts Spartans at home to the Cairns Dolphins.

NBL1 NORTH – 2022 WOMEN'S SEASON
ROUND 13 – FRIDAY NIGHT

BRISBANE CAPITALS 68 lost to CAIRNS DOLPHINS 76

The Cairns Dolphins turned it on in the third quarter to start their three-game road trip weekend on a winning note against the Brisbane Capitals on Friday night.

Both teams were down on star power coming into the contest to open Round 13 in the NBL1 North at Auchenflower Stadium with the Capitals minus Abby Cubillo and Madison Woodford while the Dolphins were missing Opal Cayla George and then lost Alessandra Burke early to injury.

Both teams made their own runs in the opening quarter but by the end of one scores were all tied at 17-17. It was a similar story in the second period with Cairns narrowly leading 33-32 going into the half-time break.

It was the third quarter when the Dolphins blew the game wide open. The visitors scored eight straight points at one point and opened up a lead by as much as 15 points on the back of scoring 31 to 18 from the Capitals.

Brisbane made a real run at a comeback by scoring 12 points in-a-row during the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t to be and the Dolphins started their three games on the road in Round 13 with the eight-point victory.

The battle between Penina Davidson and Anna Cameron was the highlight of the evening with both players coming up huge for their teams in the absence of some stars.

Davidson ended up delivering 24 points, 16 rebounds, five assists, five steals and two blocked shots for Cairns while Cameron produced 18 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and two blocks for Brisbane.

Leichan Williams also had 13 points and 11 rebounds in the win for Cairns with Teyahna Bond contributing 12 points and three assists, Myra Donkin 11 points, six assists and four rebounds, and Amy Lewis 10 points, four boards, four steals and three assists.

Bronte Corke finished with 17 points and six assists for the Capitals with Steph Collins contributing 15 points, six rebounds, four assists, three blocks and two steals, and Hilary Fuller 13 points, eight boards, four blocks, two assists and two steals.

LOGAN THUNDER 117 defeated ROCKHAMPTON CYCLONES 52

The Logan Thunder didn’t take long to stamp their authority on the Rockhampton Cyclones on Friday night on their way to an eventual 65-point victory at home.

The Thunder played host to the Cyclones at Bendigo Bank Cornubia Park Sports Centre to open Round 13 in the NBL1 North as they put their undefeated record on the line once again.

Logan quickly caught fire by scoring the opening eight points of the contest on Friday night before consecutive three-pointers from Ashley Taia pushed their lead out to 16-2 following the first five minutes.

The league-leaders then ended up delivering 33 points to nine in the first quarter and then they went on another 11-0 scoring run in the second term on the way to 24 points to nine to be leading 57-18 at half-time following a dominant half.

The Thunder didn’t let up in the second half either with another 25 points to 17 in the third quarter and then the lead did grow to as much as 65 points by the final buzzer on the back of 35 points to 17 in the fourth stanza.

The Thunder ended up collecting 56 rebounds to 35 for the game including 16 to eight at the offensive end along with dishing out 37 assists to six on the night. They also forced the Cyclones into 18 turnovers and took 14 more shots for the game and eight extra free-throws.

Mikaela Ruef continued her stunning vein of form for the Thunder by putting up another 32 points, 16 rebounds, 11 assists and two steals while shooting 12/19 from the floor and 5/10 from beyond the arc.

Chevannah Paalvast added 21 points, nine rebounds and three assists for Logan, and Ashley Taia connected on 7/10 from three-point territory for 25 points along with nine rebounds, five assists and two steals.

Carla Drennan also had 13 points and six assists, Mackenzie Auton 10 points and three steals, and Sigi Koizar nine points, nine assists, six boards and three steals.

Sara Storeshaw battled hard for Rockhampton to finish with 16 points and three rebounds with Lara McSpadden adding 12 points and 10 boards, and Jannon Otto 11 points, three rebounds and two steals.