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THE Lakeside Lightning and Perry Lakes Hawks continued their winning runs in the Women’s SBL on Saturday night with the Stirling Senators also consolidating their spot in the top eight and the Willetton Tigers theirs in the top four.

Round 13 of the 2018 Women’s SBL season began on Friday night with the Cockburn Cougars beating the Joondalup Wolves 75-55 while the Kalamunda Eastern Suns defeated the East Perth Eagles 76-69 and the Lakeside Lightning downed the Stirling Senators 82-77.

There were then four matches on Saturday night with the Willetton Tigers consolidating third position, beating the South West Slammers 84-72.

The Stirling Senators also maintained seventh position with a 77-61 victory against the winless East Perth Eagles while the Perry Lakes Hawks won a fourth straight match beating the Mandurah Magic 68-59.

The Lakeside Lightning moved four games clear in top spot winning a sixth straight beating the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 99-77 on the road.

FISHER FOCUSED ON DEVELOPING EAGLES WITH BIG PICTURE IN MIND 
FRIDAY NIGHT WOMEN’S SBL RECAP – WEEK 13 
WOMEN’S SBL PREVIEW – WEEK 13 

The Saturday night action in the Women’s SBL began at Eaton Recreation Centre with the Slammers hosting the Tigers.

Willetton delivered a remarkable opening period with 36 points to 22 and from there the Tigers cruised to the 12-point win to improve to a 10-4 record in third position while the Slammers stay eighth at 5-8.

Leah Cotton top-scored for Willetton with 20 points, four rebounds and four assists while Ashli Payne was outstanding with 18 points, 15 rebounds, three steals and two steals despite shooting just 9/24.

Desiree Kelley also had 14 points, eight rebounds and three assists with Sam Norwood contributing 13 points and five boards, and Ajay Johnson eight points, five steals, four rebounds and two assists.

Co-captain Courtney Bayliss top-scored for the Slammers with 20 points and five rebounds while nailing 6/10 from beyond the arc.

Georgia Denehey added 14 points and five rebounds, Charlotte van Kleef 14 points, seven boards and three assists, Tayah Burrows 13 points, three steals and three rebounds, and Tori Fisher 11 points, seven boards and three assists.

It was then a Grand Final rematch between the Magic and Hawks at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre with both teams trying to get themselves back in the hunt again in 2018.

Having already lost Carly Boag for the season, the Magic remain without Casey Mihovilovich too and it was the defending champion Lady Hawks that came away from Mandurah with the win.

The Magic delivered a superb second quarter with 25 points to 11 to lead 43-32 at half-time. But they scored just 16 points the entire second half with Perry Lakes making it four consecutive wins to be back in the playoff hunt to win by nine points even without Lauren Jeffers and Kate Anthony.

Last year’s Grand Final MVP Toni Farnworth delivered another standout performance with 25 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals including 3/6 from downtown and a perfect 8/8 from the charity stripe.

Nat Burton added 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Lady Hawks, Emma Clarke 10 points, four boards, three steals and two assists, and Emma Burton seven points, four rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots.

Anita Brown finished with 14 points, six steals, four rebounds and two assists for the Magic while Emma Klasztorny added 12 points and four boards, Rachel Halleen 11 points, and Kelly Bailey seven points, three steals and two rebounds.

The Senators then attempted to bounce back from a narrow loss to Lakeside on Friday night by hosting the Eagles at Warwick Stadium on Saturday night.

Stirling needed the win to remain clear inside the top eight and after taking it right up to the league-leading Lightning on Friday, but East Perth was ready to make them earn the win on their home floor.

The Senators led by just a point at quarter-time before pulling away a little in the second period to lead 43-30 at the half.

East Perth remained competitive through the second half but the Senators came away with the 16-point win to improve to a 7-9 record while the Eagles slipped 0-16 with a 26th straight loss despite an improved showing.

It was the inside presence of Amber Land and point guard abilities of Jasmine Martin that proved the difference in Stirling’s win. Land finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals, and Martin 15 points and four boards.

Georgina Harding also had 11 points for the Senators while Jodee Sontay finished with eight points against her former team and Caitlyn Jones nine points. Another former Eagle, Nicole Jorre de St Jorre, also had six points and seven assists.

Janee Johnson shot just 1/9 but had six points, five rebounds and three assists.

New East Perth import Ladondra Johnson made a big difference with 24 points and eight rebounds with Eryn Fisher contributing 13 points and 13 boards, Rose Aryang 10 points and eight rebounds, and Bree Fisher six points, six boards and three assists.

The last game of the round saw the Eastern Suns look to close in on a top four position as they hosted the league-leading Lightning at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

Kalamunda was coming off a tight win on the road to East Perth on Friday while Lakeside also had to come from behind to beat Stirling at home setting the stage for a fascinating match up.

But Lightning made a statement early to lead by five points at quarter-time and then were up 49-30 at the half to have the game in hand. They went on to win by 22 points to improve to a 14-1 record while the Eastern Suns are still fifth at 9-6.

Sydnee Fipps led the way for the Lightning with 21 points, four rebounds and four assists shooting 7/13 from the field, 3/7 from three-point range and 4/5 from free-throw line.

Ali Schwagmeyer added 19 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals hitting 5/12 from three-point land with Courtney Byrnes contributing 16 points, five boards and three assists, Courtney Green nine points, Sam Roscoe eight points and six rebounds, and Ash Grant seven points, seven boards and five assists.

Alex Ciabattoni ended up top-scoring for Kalamunda with 17 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists and three steals with Jennie Rintala contributing 16 points and three boards, Jorjah Smith 10 points and seven rebounds, Jewel Williams nine points, four boards and four assists, and Jessie Edwards nine points and seven rebounds.

WEEK 13 WOMEN’S SBL FIXTURES
FRIDAY
Cockburn Cougars 75 defeated Joondalup Wolves 55
East Perth Eagles 69 lost to Kalamunda Eastern Suns 76
Lakeside Lightning 82 defeated Stirling Senators 77

SATURDAY
South West Slammers 72 lost to Willetton Tigers 84
Stirling Senators 77 defeated East Perth Eagles 61
Mandurah Magic 59 lost to Perry Lakes Hawks 68
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 77 lost to Lakeside Lightning 99