NBL1 West Recap | Saturday Women's Round 17

The Mandurah Magic kept their playoff hopes alive with a mighty impressive win at home over the Rockingham Flames on Saturday night while the Willetton Tigers and Joondalup Wolves ensured top spot will be decided in the last round of the regular season.

The Wolfpack and Tigers both scored wins to keep that race for top spot right up for grabs heading into the final round of the NBL1 West Women's Division while Casey Mihovilovich again inspired the Magic to another crucial victory.

Round 17 in the NBL1 West Women's Division began way back on Tuesday night with the Perry Lakes Hawks winning big 80-52 against the Mandurah Magic at Bendat Basketball Centre.

There were then two more match ups on Thursday night with the Warwick Senators beating the East Perth Eagles 95-89 after a triple-double from Stacey Barr while the Joondalup Wolves proved too good for the Cockburn Cougars, winning 83-66.

Then on Friday night, the Mandurah Magic bounced back to beat the Perth Redbacks 81-66 while the Perry Lakes Hawks kept on winning with a 74-51 victory against the Kalamunda Eastern Suns.

The Willetton Tigers then did a real demolition job on the South West Slammers winning 129-33 at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

There were then three more big match ups on Saturday night including Mandurah hosting the Rockingham Flames at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre in their third game of Round 17.

The Magic backed up their win the previous night by beating the Flames 81-62 with Emma Klaztorny delivering 22 points and seven rebounds, Carly Boag 18 points and 13 boards, and Casey Mihovilovich 15 points and 15 assists in her 507th game.

The Joondalup Wolves handed the South West Slammers their second hefty loss of the weekend, winning 94-31 on Saturday night at Eaton Recreation Centre.

Rebecca Benson scored 25 points for the Lady Wolfpack, Jasmine Martin 17, Nes'eya Williams 14 and Laniesha Paddon 12. Cian Parson scored 12 of the 31 points for the Slammers.

The Willetton Tigers then ensured a thrilling final round to decide top spot between themselves and Joondalup with a 95-73 victory against the Warwick Senators at Warwick Stadium.

Sam Lubcke put up 27 points and 10 rebounds for Willetton but she had plenty of impressive support while Tayla Hepburn and Mackenzie Clinch-Hoycard had 16 points each for the Senators with Stacey Barr having a rare off shooting night going 3/17 for seven points.

NBL1 WEST – 2021 WOMEN'S SEASON
ROUND 17 – SATURDAY NIGHT

MANDURAH MAGIC 81 defeated ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 62

The Mandurah Magic continued their momentum from the previous night to score a crucial win against the Rockingham Flames at home on Saturday.

The Magic's playoff hopes looked potentially over with a big loss to the Perry Lakes Hawks back on Tuesday night, but they breathed some life back into the season still with an impressive win away to the Perth Redbacks on Friday night.

Mandurah was then back at home at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre on Saturday for their third game of Round 17 and it was going to be a big challenge against the Flames who were still looking to lock away a top four finish ahead of the playoffs.

The Magic needed to keep winning to keep their finals hopes alive and the home team managed to lead the Flames by three points at quarter-time.

Rockingham was playing its only game of the week and turned the tide in the second quarter attempting to bounce back from last week's loss to the East Perth Eagles just 24 hours after a big win over the Warwick Senators.

Mandurah worked its way back on top in the third quarter, though, and then the Magic really took control in the fourth term to seal the deal on the back of scoring 23 points to nine to end up winning 81-62.

The win improves the Magic to an 8-9 record on the season to be locked with the Perry Lakes Hawks also at 8-9 while the Cockburn Cougars are just ahead in seventh at 8-8. The Magic now finish against the Lakeside Lightning on Friday night at home.

Rockingham now sits at 10-7 to be on the same record as the Perth Redbacks with the two teams fighting over fourth spot. The Flames finish against the Wolves this Friday night at home.

Casey Mihovilovich was playing her 507th game and was as impressive as ever for the Magic delivering 15 points, 15 assists, six rebounds and four steals.

Carly Boag had another huge night for Mandurah with 18 points, 13 rebounds and five assists with Kelsey Brett contributing 11 points and three boards, and Rachel Halleen five points and two steals.

Alex Ciabattoni put up 15 points and six rebounds for Rockingham with Tayah Burrows contributing 13 points, six assists, three boards and two steals, Zoe Richards 13 points and two rebounds, Paris Duffield 10 points and Christina Boag nine points, eight rebounds, three steals and two assists.

SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 31 lost to JOONDALUP WOLVES 94

Taking on the top two teams in one weekend was always daunting for the winless South West Slammers but after a 96-point loss on Friday to the Willetton Tigers, hosting the Joondalup Wolves on Saturday appeared an even bigger task.

The Slammers scored just 33 points on the way to a 96-point defeat on the road to the Willetton Tigers on Friday night ahead of them hosting the Joondalup Wolves at Eaton Recreation Centre on Saturday.

The Lady Wolfpack needed to keep winning in that race for top spot with Willetton and got off to a strong start on the road to the Slammers with 31 points to seven in the first quarter.

The Slammers were more competitive in the second term with 11 points to 20 from Joondalup with the visitors leading 51-18 at the half-time break. An improvement on 72-19 the night before against the Tigers.

Joondalup really took over even further in the second half, though, with 22 points to seven in the third quarter and 21 to six in the fourth to end up winning 94-31.

That means the Slammers lost their two games this weekend by a combined 159 points and against the Wolves, they shot just the 10/49 from the field at 20.4 per cent and 3/14 at 21.4 per cent from the three-point line.

The Wolfpack collected 62 rebounds to 29 including 29 offensive boards to eight while forcing the Slammers into 27 turnovers.

Rebecca Benson top-scored for Joondalup with 25 points while hitting 5/7 from three-point range with Jasmine Martin playing her best game since returning mid-season with 17 points, five rebounds and two steals.

Nes'eya Williams added 14 points, eight rebounds, three steals and two assists as well for the wolves, Laniesha Paddon 12 points, three steals and two boards, and Georgia Denehey seven points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals against her original club.

Cian Parsons scored 12 of the 31 points for the Slammers on the night to go with eight rebounds. Zaya Black had five points, Skye Palmer four and Shannon Verhagen three.

WARWICK SENATORS 73 lost to WILLETTON TIGERS 95

The Warwick Senators and Willetton Tigers were both coming off wins earlier in Round 17 as they did battle at Warwick Stadium on Saturday night.

The Senators scored an impressive win back on Thursday night over the third placed East Perth Eagles at Herb Graham Recreation Centre to consolidate themselves in a playoffs spot.

The Tigers then took on the South West Slammers at Willetton Basketball Stadium on Friday night and delivered a remarkable hiding to the winless visitors with a win to the tune of 96 points to maintain top spot in a fascinating battle over it with the Joondalup Wolves.

The Senators still had a chance to finish in the top four with a win while the Tigers had to keep winning to remain in that top spot ahead of the Wolves setting up a fascinating battle.

Warwick came out strongly too putting up 27 points in the opening quarter to lead Willetton by eight points at quarter-time, but the Tigers turned things around in stunning fashion in the second term.

The visitors put up 33 points in the second term while restricting the Senators to just the 11 and that saw Willetton go into the half-time break leading 52-38.

Willetton then put the game to bed in the third quarter with 26 points to 16, and then went on to cruise to the 95-73 victory for their 14th win of the season.

Sam Lubcke was a dominant force inside for Willetton finishing the evening with 27 points, 10 rebounds and three assists while shooting 8/12 from the field and 11/12 from the foul line.

Hayley Winter was terrific running the point for the Tigers too ending up with 23 points, five rebounds and four assists with Emma Gandini contributing 19 points, nine boards, five steals and two assists, and Alex Sharp 13 points, 14 boards and four assists.

Tayla Hepburn finished with 16 points and seven rebounds for the Senators with Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard adding 16 points, three boards, three assists and two steals, Rebekah Throns 14 points and three rebounds, and Chloe Forster 12 points, five boards and two assists.

The Tigers did a terrific job limiting Stacey Barr to just seven points on 3/17 shooting as well with her up against her former team..