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THERE’S plenty of fascinating match ups to look out for in Round 8 of the Women’s SBL with the Perth Redbacks trying to respond to their winning run ending, the Perry Lakes Hawks trying to get on track and then the Willetton Tigers and Rockingham Flames battling on Saturday night.

The Round 8 Women’s SBL action begins with two games on Friday night with the Perth Redbacks playing the Stirling Senators at Belmont Oasis and the Joondalup Wolves battling the Kalamunda Eastern Suns at HBF Arena.

There are then four matches on Saturday night highlighted by the 5-1 Willetton Tigers taking on the 5-2 Rockingham Flames at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

The other Saturday night fixtures are the Perry Lakes Hawks against the Lakeside Lightning, the Mandurah Magic against the East Perth Eagles and the Kalamunda Eastern Suns against the Cockburn Cougars.

The round will then conclude on Sunday with the Cockburn Cougars playing the Perry Lakes Hawks at Wally Hagan Stadium.

SATURDAY NIGHT WOMEN’S SBL RECAP – WEEK 7 

The round begins on Friday night at Belmont Oasis with the Redbacks hosting the Senators with Perth trying to bounce back from a loss to Willetton while Stirling try to build some momentum after a slow start to 2018.

Following a first up loss to Lakeside to open the season, the Redbacks went on an impressive five-game winning run including a big win in Mandurah on Anzac Day. But that streak ended last Saturday night with a road defeat to the Tigers by 14 points.

They are still well positioned at 5-2 heading into their clash at home to the Senators who slipped 3-5 with a loss to Kalamunda on Saturday night. But the form of Stirling has improved in recent weeks after a slow start.

The other Friday night game in the Women’s SBL sees the Lady Wolfpack take on the Eastern Suns at HBF Arena.

The Wolves had a double-header last weekend beating the East Perth Eagles by 23 points on Friday night before losing to the Rockingham Flames by 14 points on Saturday.

That saw Joondalup end up with a 4-4 record entering Round 8 while Kalamunda is also 4-4 after a four-point win at home to the Senators last weekend.

Both teams can maintain touch with the top four with a win on Friday while the loser risks slipping outside of the top eight by the end of the weekend.

Saturday night in the Women’s SBL begins with a tantalising match up between the Tigers and Flames at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

Willetton last week welcomed imports Ashli Payne and Leah Cotton and went on to beat Kalamunda on Anzac Day and then Perth on Saturday night to improve to a 5-1 record on the season entering the clash with the Flames.

Rockingham also welcomed new import D’Lesha Lloyd too and continued their winning ways beating the Wolves on Saturday night to improve to 5-2.

That sets the stage between two team who look as though they have quickly got themselves back in the title hunt in 2018.

Also on Saturday night, the defending champion Lady Hawks begin their double-header with the big task of trying to topple the Lightning at Bendat Basketball Centre.

Perry Lakes title defence is yet to get off the ground with a host of players unavailable including Nat Burton for the entire season to date.

They are 1-6 as a result heading into a clash with the unbeaten Lightning who have been tremendous on their way to a 7-0 record including a 70-point hammering of East Perth last Saturday night at Morley.

The Eagles are coming off that big loss to Lakeside and remain without Fiona Heart who broke her arm last Friday night and still played all 40 minutes of the game against the Wolves.

She then sat out the loss to the Lightning and now East Perth has the job of heading to Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre to take on a Magic team trying to bounce back from their Anzac Day loss at the hands of the Redbacks meaning they will be motivated to play well.

The last game on Saturday night takes place at Ray Owen Sports Centre with the Eastern Suns hosting the Cougars. Kalamunda will be coming off playing the Wolves on Friday while Cockburn enter the round with a 2-5 record after an encouraging start to the season.

There is then the one game in the Women’s SBL on Sunday with the Cougars hosting the Hawks at Wally Hagan. Cockburn will have played Kalamunda on Saturday night and Perry Lakes having hosted Lakeside the previous night as well.

WOMEN’S SBL FIXTURES – WEEK 8
FRIDAY
Perth Redbacks v Stirling Senators – Belmont Oasis 6.30pm
Joondalup Wolves v Kalamunda Eastern Suns – HBF Arena 6.30pm

SATURDAY
Willetton Tigers v Rockingham Flames – Willetton Basketball Stadium 6.00pm
Perry Lakes Hawks v Lakeside Lightning – Bendat Basketball Centre 6.00pm
Mandurah Magic v East Perth Eagles – Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre 6.00pm
Kalamunda Eastern Suns v Cockburn Cougars – Ray Owen Sports Centre 6.30pm

SUNDAY
Cockburn Cougars v Perry Lakes Hawks – Wally Hagan Stadium 12.00pm