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THE Perth Redbacks opened Women’s Round in the SBL by handing the Lakeside Lightning Women their first loss of the 2018 season on Friday night with the Kalamunda Eastern Suns and Willetton Tigers also coming away victorious.

It is Women’s Round in the SBL heading into Mother’s Day on Sunday with the ladies’ matches taking prime position in the schedule being played after the Men’s matches. That saw the three Friday night contests played at 8.30pm.

They saw the Kalamunda Eastern Suns defeat the Rockingham Flames 74-71, the Willetton Tigers beat the East Perth Eagles 84-47 and the Perth Redbacks hand the Lakeside Lightning its first loss of 2018, winning 94-86.

WOMEN’S SBL PREVIEW – WEEK 9 

Friday night featured a tantalising contest at Lakeside Recreation Centre with the undefeated Lightning looking to stay unbeaten in 2018 hosting the impressive Redbacks.

Lakeside started the contest strongly to lead 21-18 by quarter-time but the Redbacks got rolling in the second quarter piling on 32 points to 25 to lead narrowly at the main break.

The Redbacks then pulled away further in the third quarter to lead 70-61 by three quarter-time before holding on to win by eight points and improve to 7-2 on the season with the Lightning falling to 8-1.

Kayla Standish delivered a huge performance for the Redbacks finishing the night with 35 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals on shooting 14/22 from the field.

Captain Makailah Dyer contributed 18 points, eight rebounds and eight assists too with Bianca Donovan adding 10 points, Jess Jakens nine points, seven rebounds and three assists, and Jess Hughes eight points.

Sydnee Fipps top-scored for the Lightning with 21 points, three rebounds and two assists on the back of hitting 4/8 from three-point territory.

Ali Schwagmeyer added 20 points, five assists and three rebounds for Lakeside with Courtney Byrnes contributing 14 points.

Willetton also hosted East Perth at Willetton Basketball Stadium with the Tigers proving too strong in the second half. It was a scrappy first half with the Tigers only narrowly leading 27-26 at the break.

But Willetton was able to put up 34 points to nine in the third quarter to set up the eventual 37-point victory to improve the Tigers to a 6-2 record with the Eagles slipping to 0-10.

Desiree Kelley top-scored for Willetton with 17 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals.

Ashli Payne added 15 points, 12 rebounds, five steals, four assists and two blocks for the Tigers while Zoe Harper contributed 10 points and five boards, and Leah Cotton 10 points, five rebounds and four assists.

Bree Fisher top-scored for East Perth with 14 points, six rebounds and five assists despite 13 turnovers.

Eryn Fisher finished with 11 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals but she also had eight turnovers.

Akim Lual also contributed nine points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals for the Eagles.

Another fascinating contest took place on Friday night at Mike Barnett Sports Complex with the Flames hosting the Eastern Suns.

Rockingham started strongly to lead by five points at quarter-time but Kalamunda closed the gap to two by half-time. The Eastern Suns then outscored the Flames 42-37 in the second half to come away from Rockingham with the three-point win.

The victory improves the Suns to a 7-4 record while the Flames slip to 6-3.

Jennie Rintala had another impressive performance for the Eastern Suns with 19 points, nine rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocked shots with Alex Ciabattoni again impressive as well with 15 points, 13 boards and two blocks.

Hannah King added 11 points and seven rebounds for the Suns, Jorjah Smith 11 points, five boards and three assists, and Rebecca Motroni nine points and three rebounds.

D’Lesha Lloyd delivered an impressive performance for the Flames despite the loss ending the night with 30 points and 16 rebounds on 13/20 shooting from the field.

Taneisha Harrison added 17 points, seven rebounds and three assists for Rockingham with Jacinta Bourne contributing 10 points, six boards and four assists.

WEEK 9 WOMEN’S SBL FIXTURES
FRIDAY
Rockingham Flames 71 lost to Kalamunda Eastern Suns 74
Willetton Tigers 84 defeated East Perth Eagles 47
Lakeside Lightning 86 lost to Perth Redbacks 94

SATURDAY
Joondalup Wolves v Lakeside Lightning – HBF Arena 8.00pm
East Perth Eagles v Stirling Senators – Morley Sport and Recreation Centre 8.00pm
Perth Redbacks v South West Slammers – Belmont Oasis 8.00pm

SUNDAY
South West Slammers v Perry Lakes Hawks – Eaton Recreation Centre 2.00pm