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ROUND 10 of the Women’s SBL begins with two tantalising Friday night contests as four of the top five teams on the table do battle ahead of three more games on Saturday night and another two on Sunday afternoon.

It’s a cracking Friday night ahead in the Women’s SBL to open Round 10 of the 2018 season with the Mandurah Magic playing the Lakeside Lightning at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre, and the Rockingham Flames facing the Perth Redbacks at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

The three matches on Saturday night then pit the Willetton Tigers up against the Joondalup Wolves with the East Perth Eagles also playing the Cockburn Cougars and the Kalamunda Eastern Suns taking on the Mandurah Magic.

The round then concludes on Sunday afternoon with the Cockburn Cougars playing the Willetton Tigers and the Stirling Senators battling the South West Slammers.

SUNDAY WOMEN’S SBL RECAP – WEEK 9 

The Friday night action in the Women’s SBL begins in Mandurah with the Magic hosting the Lightning in a rematch of last year’s tremendous semi-final series that was also decided at the same venue.

Mandurah won that Game 3 to go onto the Grand Final before losing to the Perry Lakes Hawks but both the Magic and Lightning have every reason to expect to again be genuine championship contenders again in the Women’s SBL in 2018.

The Magic have started the season with a 6-2 record to come into Friday night’s game in third position. They have lost the services of Carly Boag for the season through a knee injury but are now working new import Regina Palusna into the line-up.

Mandurah’s losses this season came in succession against Stirling and Perth but the Magic rebounded with a 30-point win against the Eagles two weeks ago.

Coming off last season’s semi-final exit, the Lightning started the 2018 season winning their opening eight games by an average of 21.1 points.

Lakeside did suffer its first loss of the season last Friday night at the hands of the Redbacks by eight points before bouncing back on Saturday to beat the Wolves by 18 points at HBF Arena.

That improves the Lightning to a 9-1 record on the season heading into the clash with the Magic with Sam Roscoe having now returned to the line-up as well.

The other Friday night fixture is another fascinating contest with the Flames hosting the Redbacks in Rockingham.

The Flames come into the match up with a 6-3 record in fifth position while the Redbacks are 8-2 in second.

Rockingham is coming off a three-point loss at home last Friday night at the hands of the Eastern Suns but prior to that had been in tremendous form beating the Tigers, the Lady Wolfpack, the Slammers and the Eagles by an average of 27 points.

The Redbacks have their five-match winning streak ended by the hands of Willetton but they responded to that 14-point loss well with wins over the Senators, Lightning and Slammers since. They are the only team to have beaten Lakeside this season.

That all sets the stage for a tremendous contest on Friday night as the two teams continue to battle over positions inside the top four in the Women’s SBL.

Then on Saturday night in the Women’s SBL, the Tigers host the Wolves at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

Willetton comes into the game in fourth position with a 6-2 record having beaten East Perth by 37 points last week in response to a disappointing 35-point home loss to the Flames.

Joondalup comes to Willetton needing a win with the Lady Wolfpack coming into the round in seventh position with a 4-6 record having lost their past three matches to the Flames, Eastern Suns and Lightning.

The Eagles try to get their first win on the board when they host the Cougars at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre.

East Perth has lost its first 11 matches of the season by an average of 36.5 points including losing to Stirling by 45 points last Saturday night at home on the back of scoring just one-point in the first quarter.

Cockburn comes to Morley looking to improve on a 3-6 record with the Cougars doing well to beat the Perry Lakes Hawks last Sunday to snap a six-game losing streak including a 25-point defeat last Saturday night to the Eastern Suns.

Then to close Saturday night’s action, the Eastern Suns host the Magic at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

The Suns are back to their home floor and looking to continue their impressive recent form that has seen them improve to sixth position and a 7-4 record.

Kalamunda has now won four straight matches against Stirling, Joondalup, Cockburn and Rockingham with a 10-point road loss to Willetton.

Their next challenge is a Mandurah team coming off already playing host to the Lightning on Friday night.

There are another two games on Sunday in the Women’s SBL starting with Cockburn hosting Willetton at Wally Hagan Stadium.

The Cougars will have played the Eagles on Saturday night with the Tigers coming off hosting the Wolves as well.

The round will then conclude with the Senators playing the Slammers at Warwick Stadium on Sunday afternoon from 2pm.

The game will be the first appearance of Stirling for the weekend with the Senators entering the round in eighth position with a 4-6 record having now won four of their past six matches after an 0-4 start to 2018.

They come up against a Slammers team also making their only appearance of the round and in good recent form having won four of their past seven matches to improve to a 4-6 record in ninth position.

WOMEN’S SBL FIXTURES – WEEK 10
FRIDAY
Mandurah Magic v Lakeside Lightning – Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre 6.30pm
Rockingham Flames v Perth Redbacks – Mike Barnett Sports Complex 6.30pm

SATURDAY
Willetton Tigers v Joondalup Wolves – Willetton Basketball Stadium 6.00pm
East Perth Eagles v Cockburn Cougars – Morley Sport and Recreation Centre 6.00pm
Kalamunda Eastern Suns v Mandurah Magic – Ray Owen Sports Centre 8.30pm

SUNDAY
Cockburn Cougars v Willetton Tigers – Wally Hagan Stadium 12.00pm
Stirling Senators v South West Slammers – Warwick Stadium 2.00pm