NBL1 South Recap | Saturday Women's Round 2

Keely Froling and Kelsey Griffin combined for 69 points in a win on Saturday night for the Launceston Tornadoes as part of a huge night of NBL1 South Women's action.

Round 2 in the NBL1 South Women's competition began on Friday night with Keilor Thunder defeating the Hobart Chargers 68-55.

Then on Saturday night, the Geelong Supercats defeated Ringwood Hawks 63-54 at The Geelong Arena with Sara Blicavs delivering 17 points, 12 rebounds and four assists for the home team.

The Knox Raiders had a big win 109-60 against the Waverley Falcons at the State Basketball Centre with Kiera Rowe finishing with 22 points and Alicia Froling 18 points for the winners.

It was a much closer affair at Nunawading Basketball Centre with the Dandenong Rangers taking out a thriller 73-70 against the Nunawading Spectres. Emilee Harmon had 25 points and 18 rebounds for the Rangers with Megan Mullings finishing with 18 points for the Spectres.

The Ballarat Miners also scored the 78-67 win over the Eltham Wildcats at Selkirk Stadium with Jade Melbourne putting up 20 points, 10 assists, eight rebounds and seven steals for the Miners.

The Sandringham Sabres also produced an 83-73 win against the Diamond Valley Eagles at Community Bank Stadium with Georgia Pineau finishing with 23 points and 14 rebounds for Sandringham.

The Casey Cavaliers beat the Kilsyth Cobras also on Saturday night at Kilsyth Sports Centre with Monique Conti top-scoring for the Cavs with 17 points.

The Launceston Tornadoes were also able to record the 93-69 victory against the Keilor Thunder at Elphin Sports Stadium with Keely Froling and Kelsey Griffin combining for 69 points in the win for the Tornadoes.

Then at The Ice House, the Mount Gambier Pioneers beat the Frankston Blues 73-66 with Sherrie Calleia putting up 28 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals for the winners.

The round will continue on Sunday afternoon with the Bendigo Braves at home to the Geelong Supercats with the Melbourne Tigers playing the Eltham Wildcats and the Sandringham Sabres hosting the Ballarat Miners.

NBL1 SOUTH – 2022 WOMEN'S SEASON
ROUND 2 – SATURDAY NIGHT

GEELONG SUPERCATS 63 defeated RINGWOOD HAWKS 54

The Geelong Supercats and Ringwood Hawks both put their winning starts to the NBL1 South season on the line when they did battle at The Geelong Arena on Saturday night.

The Supercats opened the 2022 season winning on the road to the Ballarat Miners while the Hawks had a double winning opening weekend against the Kilsyth Cobras and Knox Raiders.

Ringwood then started well with 29 points to 25 in the first quarter but Geelong took over in the second not only scoring 21 points themselves, but holding the Hawks to only four.
Then even though the Supercats only scored three points in the fourth quarter, they hung on for the 63-54 win on their home court.

Geelong finished the night shooting 10/24 from three-point range opposed to the 5/24 for Ringwood.

Sara Blicavs was terrific for the Supercats with 17 points, 12 rebounds and four assists with Aimie Rocci adding 15 points and five assists, Taylah Simmons 14 points and 12 boards, and Sarah Elsworthy seven points.

Marena Whittle finished with 17 points and six rebounds for Ringwood, Marta Hermida 13 points, eight boards, three assists and three steals, and Digna Strautmane seven points, 12 rebounds, five steals, four assists and four blocked shots. 

 

KNOX RAIDERS 109 defeated WAVERLEY FALCONS 60

The Knox Raiders were back home on Saturday night hunting their first win of the NBL1 East season hosting a Waverley Falcons team coming off a first up win.

The Raiders lost at home in the opening round to the Ringwood Hawks and away to the Kilsyth Cobras while the Falcons opened up 2022 with a win against the Bendigo Braves at home.

That set the tone for Saturday night's clash at the State Basketball Centre and the Raiders had a night out starting with 29 points to seven in the first quarter.

Knox continued on from there including outscoring Waverley 56 points to 31 in the second half to end up winning 109-60.

Kiera Rowe delivered 22 points and five rebounds for the Raiders on the back of hitting 5/7 from three-point land.

Alicia Froling added 18 points and four rebounds, Klara Wischer 13 points, six boards and three assists, Leah Santomaggio 13 points and three rebounds, Kara Tessari 13 points and four assists, and Lucy Dawson 10 points and three rebounds.

Bec Cole put up 22 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals for the Falcons while Carley Ernst delivered 11 points and two boards fresh off helping the Melbourne Boomers win the WNBL championship.

 

NUNAWADING SPECTRES 70 lost to DANDENONG RANGERS 73

It turned out to be a nail-biter between the Nunawading Spectres and Dandenong Rangers at Nunawading Basketball Centre on Saturday night.

In the end it was a Gemma Potter three-pointer to close the game that decided the result. Her triple broke the 70-70 deadlock to give the Rangers the clutch 73-70 victory.

It had been a terrific battle all evening with the Rangers leading 17-15 after the first quarter and then extending that advantage to 38-31 by the half-time break.

The Spectres fired back into the contest in the third period with 18 points to 11 and then then just as it appeared it might be going to overtime, Potter won the game for Dandenong.

Emilee Harmon had a monstrous performance for Dandenong finishing with 25 points and 18 rebounds while Tenaya Sooalo put up 21 points, four rebounds and two assists.

Potter not only hit the winner but delivered 18 points, seven boards and three assists for the game.

Megan Mullings top-scored for the Spectres with 18 points and six rebounds while Rachel Brewster delivered 14 points and Rachel Antoniadou 12 points, five rebounds and five assists.

 

BALLARAT MINERS 78 defeated ELTHAM WILDCATS 67

Both the Ballarat Miners and Eltham Wildcats were chasing their first victories of the 2022 NBL1 South Women's season when they locked horns on Saturday night at Selkirk Stadium.

The Miners also hosted the Geelong Supercats in the opening round but suffered a 12-point loss while the Wildcats went down on the road to the Nunawading Spectres as well last Saturday.

Back on their home deck, Ballarat started strongly putting up 28 points to 16 in the opening quarter but Eltham turned the tide in the second period with 23 points to 11.

The seesaw battle continued with the Miners producing a third quarter of 23 points to 11 and then proved enough to see them end up prevailing 78-67.

Despite the Wildcats winning the rebound battle by seven, they coughed up 22 turnovers in the game and the Miners were able to take enough advantage for the 11-point win.

Recent WNBA draftee Jade Melbourne produced a stunning all-round performance for Ballarat with 20 points, 10 assists, eight rebounds and seven steals.

Kristy Rinaldi added 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists for the Miners, Zitina Aokuso 15 points and eight rebounds, and Isabella Brancatisano 15 points and five boards.

Hailey Leidel finished with 17 points for Eltham to go with seven rebounds and three assists with Ally Marshall contributing 12 points and five boards, and Rebecca Pizzey 12 points, 11 boards, six assists and three steals.

Korinne Campbell added 11 points and 13 rebounds with Taylah Wynne adding 10 points, six rebounds and five assists.

 

DIAMOND VALLEY EAGLES 73 lost to SANDRINGHAM SABRES 83

The Sandringham Sabres headed to Community Bank Stadium on Saturday night and came away with the win against the Diamond Valley Eagles 83-73.

The Sabres opened their NBL1 South season with a home win over Frankston in the opening round while Diamond Valley came into Saturday night's contest having lost to start the season by 41 points on the road to Mount Gambier.

It was a much closer affair on Saturday night even after the Sabres opened up putting on 31 points to 18 in the first quarter.

The Eagles did their best to fight their way back into the contest but Sandringham held firm to secure the 10-point victory away from home.

Georgia Pineau finished with 23 points and 14 rebounds in the win for Sandringham while Abbey Noblett delivered 17 points and five boards, Funda Nakkasoglu 17 points, Amy O'Neill 10 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.

Rachel Jarry also had nine points, 10 rebounds and four steals, and Cassandra Hill seven points.

Imogen Rock top-scored for Diamond Valley with 19 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists while Emma Mahady added 14 points, four boards and three assists, and Hayley Sparks 12 points and six rebounds.

 

KILSYTH COBRAS 58 lost to CASEY CAVALIERS 71

The Casey Cavaliers started strongly to set up an eventual 13-point road win over the Kilsyth Cobras on Saturday night.

The Cavs opened up the NBL1 South season with impressive Round 1 wins against the Melbourne Tigers and Dandenong Rangers while the Cobras opened the campaign splitting their first round matches to the Knox Raiders and Ringwood Hawks.

Then on Saturday night at Kilsyth Sports Centre, Casey started strongly with 21 points to 12 in the first quarter. That set the tone for the rest of match and they would end up winning 71-58 to continue their impressive opening to the season.

It might not have been the most aesthetically pleasing game with the combined 43 turnovers and the Cavaliers shooting 35.6 per cent from the floor and the Cobras 31.9 per cent, but Monique Conti delivered 17 points, five steals, four assists and four rebounds for Casey.

Rachel Bell added 16 points and six rebounds, Louise Brown 14 points and 10 boards, and Kyra Webb 11 points, six boards and five assists.

Nikita Young put up 15 points, three rebounds, three steals and two assists for Kilsyth with Abigail Curtin contributing 11 points and five boards, and Carly Turner 10 points, 11 rebounds and three assists.

 

LAUNCESTON TORNADOES 93 defeated KEILOR THUNDER 69

The Launceston Tornadoes continued their winning start to the NBL1 South season beating the Keilor Thunder on their home floor on Saturday night.

The Tornadoes opened their season beating the Hobart Chargers in Round 1 while the Thunder had already played in Round 2 on Friday night with a win also against the Chargers.

Launceston proved too strong on Saturday night, though, on the back of starting by putting up 30 points to 20 in the first quarter. They added another 30 points to 18 in the second to head into half-time leading 6-38.

They ended up winning 93-69 at Elphin Sports Stadium with them collecting 45 rebounds to just the 17 from Keilor. The Tornadoes also shot 54.8 per cent from the field, 9/20 from three and there was a lot to like about their performance.

Keely Froling was brilliant for Launceston putting up 35 points and 11 rebounds on 12/24 shooting from the floor and 11/15 at the foul line.

Kelsey Griffin also delivered 34 points, six rebounds and three assists on 14/16 shooting including 3/4 from downtown.

Maddie Garrick delivered another 19 points for the Thunder with Monique Andriuolo contributing 14 points and Ellen Barkeley 11 points and two steals.

 

MT GAMBIER PIONEERS 73 defeated FRANKSTON BLUES 66

The Mt Gambier Pioneers continued their winning start to the 2022 NBL1 South season beating the Frankston Blues at home on Saturday night.

Mt Gambier opened the new season beating the Diamond Valley Eagles in the opening round while the Blues split their Round 1 match ups with the Dandenong Rangers and Sandringham Sabres.

That set the stage for an intriguing match up on Saturday night at The Ice House and scores were all square by quarter-time before the Pioneers went into half-time leading 39-35.

Mt Gambier then finished the job to break the three quarter-time deadlock with 23 points to 16 in the fourth quarter to record the 73-66 win.

Sherrie Calleia top-scored for the Pioneers with 28 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals with Cassandra Brown contributing 12 points and six boards, Haliegh Reinoehl 12 points and four rebounds, and Shakera Reilly 10 points and four boards.

Darcee Garbin produced 20 points and eight rebounds on the back of her WNBL season captaining the Perth Lynx to the WNBL Grand Final. Kate Gaze added 17 points and five boards, and Chelsea D'Angelo 12 to go with five rebounds and five assists.