NBL1 North Round 2 Saturday Women’s Recap

Catch up on all the action from a big night of basketball in the NBL1 North women's competition

 Brisbane Capitals 65 def by Southern Districts Spartans 87

Southern Districts Spartans improved their record to 2-0 with an 87-65 victory over Brisbane Capitals at Auchenflower Stadium on Saturday.

The Spartans jumped out to an early lead and capitalised on their superior field goal percentage to lead by 25 points (53-28) at half time.

Spartans forward Nadeen Payne made the most of her scoring opportunities, hitting 8 of 9 from the field and 5 of 7 from the charity stripe for a game high 27 points in 24 minutes.

The margin allowed the Spartans’ 12-player squad to get quality minutes with Kalani Purcell (13 points, 7 rebounds), Madelyn Willey (11 points), Maddison Rocci (10 points, 5 assists), Holly Smith (10 points), and Ash Karaitiana (10 points) the team’s top scorers.

Turnovers (28-17) cost the Capitals scoring opportunities, but Brisbane forward Meg Essex made the most of her opportunities, shooting 4 of 6 from the field on her way to a team best 10 points.

Ipswich Force 96 def Cairns Dolphins 83

Ipswich Force used an 11-point run midway through the fourth quarter to defeat Cairns Dolphins 96-83 at JBS Stadium on Saturday.

Down three (71-74) with 5.56 remaining, Force guard Georgia Ralph got things going with a game-tying three-pointer.

Catherine McGregor scored the next eight unanswered points to give Ipswich an 82-74 lead at the 3.11 mark. The Force guard scored 13 of her team-high 32 points in the final quarter including 3 of her 7 three-pointers made.

Ipswich guard Amy Lewis added 25 points and Ralph chimed in with 15 points for the home side.

Cairns dropped to 0-3 after back-to-back games on a Gold Coast-Ipswich road trip. Dolphins guard Myra Donkin scored a game-high 34 points and forward Sarah Heard added 25 points.

Northside Wizards 63 def Sunshine Coast Phoenix 62

Northside guard Courtney Woods kept a steady hand to help the Wizards secure a one-point victory over Sunshine Coast at South Pine Sports Complex on Saturday.

Woods had a game-high 24 points which included a game-tying (61-all) jump shot with 1.07 remaining. But none more important than her go-ahead free throws in the final minute of the 63-62 win.

Phoenix forward Jennifer Carden-David tallied a double-double with a team-high 20 points and 19 rebounds. Sunshine Coast guard Kathleen MacLeod added 14 points, but the Phoenix let the game slip away due to an off night from beyond the arc, missing all 19 three-pointer attempts.

The visitors were on the good side of most statistical categories including rebounds, assists, turnovers, and field goal attempts but the poor shooting percentage meant they were one point behind in the most important category.

Red City Roar 53 def by South West Metro Pirates 80

South West Metro Pirates have defeated Red City Roar 80-53 in the south Brisbane battle at the Paul Bancroft Centre on Saturday.

Pirates guards Bree Farley (21 points), Tylah King (21 points), and Kayla Kiriau (18 points) top scored for the away team, albeit a 15-minute road trip.

Farley hit 4 of 7 three-point attempts and added six rebounds and five assists to her numbers.

Roar forward Annaliese Watkinson scored a game-high 22 points, but the team’s scoring efficiency hurt the home side.

Townsville Flames 90 def Rockhampton Cyclones 63

Townsville improved to a 2-0 win-loss record with a 90-63 win over Rockhampton at Townsville StarFM Stadium on Saturday night.

Flames guard Stephanie Reid (27 points, 5 assists) and forward Mia Murray (24 points, 7 rebounds) led the offence for the home side.

The Flames poured in 31 second-quarter points to lead 56-28 at the main break and set up the victory.

Rockhampton centre Lara McSpadden top scored for the visitors with 26 points and 8 rebounds, but it was the team’s turnovers and far fewer scoring opportunities that hurt the Cyclones.