NBL1 West Recap | Women's Preliminary Finals

It will be the Warwick Senators and Willetton Tigers locking horns in the NBL1 West Women's' Grand Final of 2022 after the two teams claimed preliminary final victories on Saturday night.

It now shapes as quite the fascinating Grand Final next Friday night with the regular season champion Senators to enter on a 17-game winning streak as they play the defending champion Tigers.

Both preliminary final match ups took place on Saturday night after the Willetton Tigers beat the Cockburn Cougars, and the Mandurah Magic beat the Rockingham Flames in the semi finals on Thursday night.

The Senators and Wolfpack were waiting to play host to the preliminary finals then on Saturday night after both teams finishing in the top two positions and then claimed qualifying final victories last weekend.

The preliminary final action got underway at HBF Arena Joondalup and while the defending champion Willetton hadn’t reached top gear in recent times, they saved their best for when it mattered most.

The Tigers put on a terrific performance to beat the Wolfpack on the road 92-81 and give themselves a chance at back-to-back championships.

Desiree Kelley was terrific for Willetton with 28 points and 10 rebounds with last year's MVP Alex Sharp delivering 20 points and 12 rebounds. Robbi Ryan put up 23 points, nine rebounds and nine assists for the Wolfpack.

The other preliminary final then took place at Warwick Stadium and the regular season champion Warwick Senators made it 17 straight wins by proving too strong for a valiant Mandurah Magic, winning 79-66.

MVP Stacey Barr was superb once more with 32 points, five rebounds and four assists for the Senators while Sarah Toeaina and Aimee Brett scored 16 points each for Mandurah.

The NBL1 West Women's Grand Final will now take place on Friday night at Bendat Basketball Centre between the Warwick Senators and Willetton Tigers.

NBL1 WEST – 2022 WOMEN'S SEASON
PRELIMINARY FINALS – SATURDAY NIGHT

JOONDALUP WOLVES 81 lost to WILLETTON TIGERS 92

It was a rematch of last year's NBL1 West Grand Final at HBF Arena Joondalup on Saturday night with the Joondalup Wolves and Willetton Tigers fighting over a spot in the 2022 decider.

The two teams played out a thrilling Grand Final in the NBL1 West back in 2021 with Willetton ending up prevailing to claim the championship.

On the back of that there's been great change at the Wolves coming into 2022 with a significant turnover in players and a new coach arriving in Marcus Wong, and the Wolfpack put together a terrific season.

They won their opening 16 matches before ending the regular season at 18-2 in second spot and then managing to beat the Mandurah Magic in the qualifying final to earn the hosting rights for the preliminary final.

The Tigers have largely a similar squad to the one that won the championship last season but they had a shaky finish to the season losing their last two matches to slip to fourth position and then lose to the Warwick Senators in the qualifying final.

The Tigers then had to battle hard to overcome the Cockburn Cougars 103-98 in a thrilling semi-final at Willetton Basketball Stadium on Thursday night to see them book in a spot in the preliminary final against the Wolfpack at HBF Arena Joondalup on Saturday night.

Even though Joondalup started well enough on their home floor to lead early on by six points, it was Willetton who arrived on a mission to show that they are the defending champions for a reason.

The Tigers lit it up in remarkable fashion for the rest of the first quarter by scoring 12 consecutive points, opening up a 15-point lead at one stage and it was all on the back of a remarkable shooting performance.

Sophie Doran, Desiree Kelley and Emma Gandini all knocked down two three-pointers apiece in the first quarter in what was a remarkable performance from the Tigers to blow the preliminary final wide open.

The Wolfpack were able to stem the tide in the second quarter and outscored the Tigers 20 points to 14, but Willetton was still on top leading 50-46 by the half-time break.

The Tigers pulled away to a double-figure lead again during the third quarter to lead by as much as 11 points before going on to lead by 15 in the fourth term, and to end up winning 92-81.

The victory means that the Tigers advance to Friday night's Grand Final at Bendat Basketball Centre where they have the chance to win back-to-back championships and the 10th in the club's history in the women's competition.

Willetton finished the night shooting a terrific 52.2 per cent from the field as a team while knocking down 14/30 at 46.7 per cent from three-point range. Joondalup went at 38.2 per cent from the field and 31.0 per cent from downtown.

Desiree Kelley was outstanding for Willetton once again in the 201st game of her career with 28 points and 10 rebounds while hitting 8/14 from three-point land.

Emma Gandini added 16 points, three rebounds and two assists for the Tigers, Alex Sharp 20 points, 12 rebounds and three assists, Sophie Doran 12 points and five assists, and Sam Lubcke 10 points, six rebounds and three assists.

It was a tough way for a season that promised so much to end for the Wolfpack with Robbi Ryan finishing with 23 points, nine rebounds, nine assists and four steals as she now focuses on her WNBL season at the Perth Lynx.

Teige Morrell added 16 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks for the Wolves with Kiara Philips adding 12 points with 4/7 shooting from downtown.

WARWICK SENATORS 79 defeated MANDURAH MAGIC 66

The Warwick Senators were at home to the Mandurah Magic on Saturday night looking to keep their winning form going to book in a spot in the Grand Final for 2022 against an experienced and determined opponent.

The Senators and Magic have both been knocking on the door for a championship in the women's competition for some time now and weren’t about to let the chance slip of reaching the Grand Final in 2022.

Warwick last won an SBL championship in 1994 when still known as Stirling while reaching Grand Finals in 2007 and 2019 since but not quite being able to get over the line.

It's been a story of so close yet so far for Mandurah as well with the Magic having reached six Grand Finals between 2003 and 2018 but not quite being able to get over the line in any of them.

The one constant in each of those is the league's games record holder Casey Mihovilovich and she was determined to lead her team into another championship opportunity when they took on the Senators at Warwick Stadium on Saturday night.

Mandurah advanced to the preliminary final by beating the Rockingham Flames in a semi-final on Thursday night at home but the Senators have been in some ominous form having won their past 16 matches including a strong qualifying final win at home over the Willetton Tigers.

The Senators made a strong start on their home floor by opening up a seven-point lead during the first quarter, and still being on top 18-14 by quarter-time.

Warwick was able to push out their advantage further during the second period with another 6-0 run that saw the Senators' lead grow to 14 points and they were in control leading the Magic 42-30 at half-time.

While the Magic tried to find a way back in the contest during the second half, they could never quite get close enough to strike.

Both teams lost their centres to five fouls during the first quarter too with Nat Burton out for Warwick and Alex Wittinger for Mandurah, but in the end the Senators were just too strong and did enough to secure the 79-66 victory.

That sees the Senators book in a place in their first Grand Final since 2019 when they lost to the Rockingham Flames as they attempt to win a first championship since 1994, and second overall.

Warwick secured their 17th straight victory on the back of another standout performance from two-time MVP winner Stacey Barr. She produced 32 points, five rebounds and four assists.

Leonie Fiebich added 15 points, 12 rebounds and three assists, Nat Burton 14 points, three boards and two steals, Chloe Forster 13 points, six rebounds, three steals and two assists, and 438-game veteran Nicole Jorre de St Jorre three points, six rebounds and four assists.

It was another tough finals exit from a valiant Mandurah team with Sarah Toeaina finishing with 16 points and five rebounds, and Aimee Brett 16 points, five boards and two steals.

Casey Mihovilovich added eight points and five assists, Alex Wittinger six points and five rebounds, Carly Boag six points and 13 boards, and Rachel Halleen six points and two assists.