NBL1 South Round 5 Saturday Women’s Recap

Catch up on all the action from a busy night in the NBL1 South Women's competition.

Geelong Supercats 90 def Melbourne Tigers 82
The Geelong Supercats have come through in front of its home fans, handing the Melbourne Tigers its second straight loss.
It was a close game for much of the first half, with both teams trading leads.
While half time saw a tied game, the momentum seemed to be with Melbourne, as the Tigers looked to ride some huge performances from its stars to a big second half.
Zitina Aokuso flirted with a triple double, tallying 20 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, while Monique Conti shook off a poor shooting evening from the outside to finish with 22 points.
The Tigers pair could not however keep their side in front after the main break as the Supercats really started to roll.
Geelong opened the third term on a 10-0 run before ultimately outscoring Melbourne 24-11 in the quarter.
Sarah Elsworthy led the way for the Supercats, finishing the contest with 25 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
While Melbourne tried its hardest to make a late push at the lead, Geelong were able to hold on and secure the win at home.

Bendigo Braves 70 def Eltham Wildcats 63
The Bendigo Braves have survived a huge comeback effort from the Eltham Wildcats to come away with the win at home.
The Braves started the game on an absolute tear, outscoring Eltham 28-8 in the opening term.
Tess Madgen was damaging early for Bendigo, scoring often en route to a 23 point performance.
Despite the huge deficit, the Wildcats never wavered from its approach, chipping away at the lead over the second and third terms.
Tess Heal led the way with 22 points, while Anneli Maley ensured Eltham got its fair share of second chance opportunities, tallying 27 rebounds, 11 of which came on the offensive end.
The Wildcats’ push was punctuated by an Erin Riley shot in the closing minutes of the third term which propelled the side into the lead for the first time all evening.
The advantage however was short lived, as come the final quarter, Bendigo woke up, outscoring Eltham 17-11 to come away with the exciting victory.
The loss was Eltham's first of the season.

Dandenong Rangers 63 def by Frankston Blues 78
The Frankston Blues remain undefeated through six games after overcoming a slow start on the road against the Dandenong Rangers.
Dandenong took the lead early in the contest, holding the Blues at bay throughout a defensive first quarter.
Taking a 13-10 lead into the first break, the Rangers looked to continue containing Frankston’s star duo of Darcee garbin and Tessa Lavey.
Spoiler Alert: It didn’t continue.
After the first term, the Blues pair lit Dandenong up for a combined 49 points, 14 rebounds and 13 assists.
After trailing for the opening 11 minutes of the game, Frankston would go on to take the lead, holding onto it for the remaining three quarters to come away with the comfortable 15 point win.

Kilsyth Cobras 70 def by Nunawading Spectres 90
The Nunawading Spectres have orchestrated a wire-to-wire demolition of the Kilsyth Cobras on the road.
Led by a 28 point, 10 rebound, five assist game from Rachel Antoniadou, Nunawading led for every minute of the contest.
While the first half remained within a reasonable margin for Kilsyth to put together a comeback effort, everything changed after the main break.
The Spectres outscored the Cobras 23-8 in the third term, before its lead would balloon to 29 points in the opening minutes of the final quarter.
Kilsyth was able to claw its way back somewhat in the final term, however the game was already over at that point.
The win is Nunawading’s third in a row as the side looks forward to a huge matchup next week against the undefeated Knox Raiders.

Albury Wodonga Bandits 64 def by Waverley Falcons 81
In an exciting matchup, the Waverley Falcons have denied the Albury Wodonga Bandits its first win of the season on the road.
The Bandits led the matchup for much of the first half, with Emma Mahady scoring 20 points and grabbing 15 rebounds, while Brodie-Paige Theodore contributed 20 points in just 22 minutes.
The largest lead Albury Wodonga enjoyed was an 11-point advantage in the opening term, however Waverley refused to let the lead expand beyond its reach, keeping the game close before pulling in front to close the first half.
The Falcons took control of the game on the inside, with Kelly Bowen and Renae Mokrzycki combining for 30 rebounds on the evening.
This advantage really came to light in the final term, which saw Waverley outscore the Bandits 17-4 over the final six minutes of action.
The victory will keep the Falcons in contention for a top eight position come the end of the round.

Ringwood Hawks 67 def Ballarat Rush 50
The Ringwood Hawks have come away with a comfortable victory in front of its home fans against the Ballarat Rush.
Ringwood jumped out of the gates quickly, opening up a 12 point advantage in the first term and never looking back.
Funda Nakkasoglu led the way for the Hawks with her outside shooting. The guard finished with 20 points and a quartet of three-pointers.
As for Ballarat, the side simply never seemed to get out of first gear.
Only one player for the Rush, Kasey Burton, managed to make it into double-digit scoring figures, while the team also struggled with turnover issues (22 turnovers).
After falling behind early, the closest the Rush would come to taking the lead came in the second quarter, after Clair Constable knocked down a triple to reduce Ringwood’s lead to six points.
The loss is the fourth in a row for Ballarat. The side will look to bounce back next week against the winless Mt Gambier Pioneers.

Mt Gambier Pioneers 40 def by Knox Raiders 69
The Knox Raiders have dominated the Mt Gambier Pioneers on the road to remain perfect across its first five games of the season.
In the battle of one unbeaten team versus one winless team, the result went as you might think, with the Raiders controlling every aspect of the game to run away with the emphatic win.
After opening up a 16 point advantage to close the first term, Knox seemed to simply cruise toward the win in the final three quarters.
The Raiders limited the Pioneers to just 16 made baskets, while forcing 25 turnovers in the contest.
Kara Tessari top-scored for Knox with 16 points, closely followed by Klara Wischer’s 15 points.

Launceston Tornadoes 103 def Diamond Valley Eagles 74
The Launceston Tornadoes have ridden the most impressive single game performance of the season to a comfortable win over the Diamond Valley Eagles.
It became clear from the outset that the contest would be the Keely Froling show, as the forward destroyed any and all defenders that Diamond Valley put in her way.
Froling finished the contest with 52 points, 26 rebounds, five assists and four steals, while shooting a perfect 16 for 16 from the free-throw line.
It seemed as though there was simply nothing the Eagles could do whenever Froling got the ball in the paint.
The Tornadoes star scored on 14 occasions inside the paint, while also contributing a pair of three-pointers on the evening.
As if Froling’s historic performance wasn’t enough for Diamond Valley to deal with, Mariah Payne also poured in 26 points and dished out 12 assists for Launceston.
On the back of these amazing performances, the Tornadoes led for all but the opening minutes of the contest and cruised to a huge win at home.