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THE Perry Lakes Hawks bounced back from their first Women’s SBL loss with a strong win on Friday night over the Cockburn Cougars while the South West Slammers and Stirling Senators also recorded victories.

Week 15 of the Women’s SBL began with the three matches on Friday night that saw the Perry Lakes Hawks beat the Cockburn Cougars 88-81, the South West Slammers defeat the East Perth Eagles 85-69 and the Stirling Senators prevail 73-67 over the Rockingham Flames.

WEEK 15 WOMEN’S SBL PREVIEW 
TWO BIG WEEKS HAS LADY WOLFPACK RIGHT BACK IN THE MIX

Week 15 began on Friday night at Bendat Basketball Centre with the Lady Hawks out to rebound from their first loss of the season suffered at the same venue seven days earlier at the hands of the Joondalup City Wolves.

The Cougars’ form has been building too after a slow start to the season to see them inside the top eight so it was all set up to be a terrific contest.

It didn’t disappoint either with Perry Lakes ending up winning by seven points to improve to 15-1 on the season while Cockburn slipped to 6-11.

The Hawks did start strongly with 30 points to 21 in the opening term and that proved the difference throughout the night.

Toni Farnworth had a huge game for the Lady Hawks with 30 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists on shooting 12-of-23 from the floor.

Sarah Donovan added 20 points and four rebounds for Perry Lakes with Nat Burton contributing 17 points and nine boards, and Kate Anthony eight points.

Kersten Mitchell led the way for the Cougars with 23 points, seven rebounds and four assists while BJ Moyes contributed 22 points and four assists.

Taryn Priestly also had 14 points and four assists, and Lindsey Doucette 11 points and eight rebounds.

Morley Sport and Recreation Centre then hosted a battle between two teams who might occupy the bottom two spots, but who are on the rise and have shown improvement throughout 2017.

In the end, it was the Slammers who beat the Eagles by 16 points to claim their fourth win of the season to leave East Perth two games clear on the bottom at 2-14.

Despite the Slammers dominating the first half to lead 43-27 at the break, the Eagles breathed some life into the contest in the third quarter. But South West responded with 26 points to 18 in the final period to win by 16.

Brittany Hodges was again the star for the Slammers with 22 points and 14 rebounds but she received plenty of help this time around.

Georgia Denehey delivered 19 points and four steals with Courtney Bayliss adding 18 points, eight rebounds and four assists, Kate Fielding 13 points, six boards and three assists, and Raya Thompson nine points.

Abbey Duinker had a big night for East Perth with 25 points and seven rebounds while Kaylee Kilpatrick had 13 points, nine boards and four assists, and Elainah Coffin 10 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals.

The last game on Friday night took place at Mike Barnett Sports Complex with the Senators recording an important and hard fought six-point win over the shorthanded and increasingly youthful Flames.

Stirling got the win to remain solid in fourth position while Rockingham has now lost its last eight matches.

Kisha Lee top-scored for the Senators with 20 points, eight rebounds and three assists.

Amber Land also finished with 18 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots for Stirling while Hannah Throns contributed 12 points, five boards and five assists, and Rebekah Throns 11 points and nine rebounds.

Chastity Reed tried to lift the Flames ending the night with 25 points and 10 rebounds.

Chelsea Armstrong also had 12 points, four rebounds and four assists for Rockingham, Dena English 11 points and five boards, and Tarsha Fletcher 10 points.

There are three more Week 15 Women’s SBL matches on Saturday night with the South West Slammers playing the Kalamunda Eastern Suns, the Mandurah Magic taking on the Perth Redbacks and the Willetton Tigers facing the Rockingham Flames.

Lastly on Sunday, the Cockburn Cougars host the East Perth Eagles.

FRIDAY NIGHT ROUND 15 WOMEN’S SBL RESULTS
Perry Lakes Hawks 88 defeated Cockburn Cougars 81
East Perth Eagles 69 lost to South West Slammers 85
Rockingham Flames 67 lost to Stirling Senators 73

SATURDAY NIGHT ROUND 15 WOMEN’S SBL FIXTURES
South West Slammers v Kalamunda Eastern Suns – Eaton Recreation Centre 6pm
Mandurah Magic v Perth Redbacks – Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre 6pm
Willetton Tigers v Rockingham Flames – Willetton Basketball Stadium 6pm

SUNDAY ROUND 15 WOMEN’S SBL FIXTURES
Cockburn Cougars v East Perth Eagles – Wally Hagan Stadium 12pm

Photo by Vikki Hile