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ROUND 2 of the Women’s SBL begins on Friday night with a tantalising Rockingham Flames-Perry Lakes Hawks match up ahead of four games on Saturday as teams try to make their early statements.

Following an opening round that saw wins for the Lakeside Lightning, South West Slammers, Warwick Senators, Cockburn Cougars, Joondalup Wolves and Mandurah Magic, things heat up again in Round 2 starting at Mike Barnett Sports Complex on Friday night.

The Rockingham Flames had the bye in the opening round so they begin their new era under coach Craig Reynolds at home to the champions of two years ago the Perry Lakes Hawks.

That’s the lone Friday night fixture ahead of four matches on Saturday night beginning at Willetton Basketball Stadium with the Willetton Tigers hosting the Lakeside Lightning.

The East Perth Eagles host the Cockburn Cougars at Herb Graham Recreation Centre with the Joondalup Wolves hosting the Warwick Senators and the Kalamunda Eastern Suns taking on the Mandurah Magic.

ROUND 1 WOMEN’S SBL RECAP
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2019 WOMEN’S SBL SEASON PREVIEW

The round begins on Friday night with the Flames hosting the Hawks at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

Rockingham is playing its first game of the season following the off-season signings of Darcee Garbin, Tayah Burrows and Christina Boag to the retention of Maddie Allen for coach Craig Reynolds.

They now get a good first up test on their home floor against a Perry Lakes team who lost by three points at home last Friday the Wolves with new import guard Jamie Cherry looking good with 21 points, eight rebounds and three assists.

Then on Saturday night, Willetton and Lakeside begin proceedings at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

The Tigers went down in their season-opener last Saturday to Cockburn with their imports yet to arrive while the Lightning began their championship defence beating Mandurah in a Grand Final rematch with Ali Schwagmeyer in the line-up alongside new import GeAnna Luaulu-Summers.

Another Saturday night fixture with plenty to look forward to about it takes place at HBF Arena with the Lady Wolfpack hosting the Senators in the local derby.

The game will also see former Senator Amber Land line up for Joondalup against her former team for the first time having played 141 games with the newly named Warwick.

The Wolves are a vastly new-look team in 2019 under coach Charles Nix and they looked impressive last Friday beating Perry Lakes 69-66 with Kayla Steindl producing 17 points and 14 rebounds, and Land 14 points and five boards.

That sets up quite the front court battle against the Senators after Tayla Hepburn had 31 points and 17 rebounds, and Bianca Villegas 18 points and eight boards in a 94-82 win over the Redbacks.

Senators coach Dion Dagostino is looking forward to the early season challenge.

“It will be a massive challenge and I’m looking forward to that,” Dagostino said.

“We have a bye after that and then we’ll get Stacey (Barr) and our second import in. Wolves will be tough, it will be an interesting game.”

Then also on Saturday night, East Perth will begin its home season at Herb Graham Recreation Centre this season looking to snap a 33-game losing run against a Cougars team that did open 2019 with a home win over the Tigers last Saturday night.

The round will then conclude with a battle between two of the semi finalists from last year when the Eastern Suns host the Magic at Ray Owen Sports Centre in a quick rematch.

The two teams already played last Saturday night in Mandurah with the Magic winning a thriller by two points. Now it’s a quick turnaround with the Suns hosting the Magic on Saturday looking to earn a measure of revenge over last year’s Grand Finalists.

WOMEN’S SBL FIXTURES – WEEK 2
FRIDAY
Class 1 Orthodontics Rockingham Flames v Perry Lakes Hawks – Mike Barnett Sports Complex 6.30pm

SATURDAY
Willetton Tigers v Lakeside Lightning – Willetton Basketball Stadium 5.00pm
Schweigen East Perth Eagles v Round 1 Fitness Cockburn Cougars – Herb Graham Recreation Centre 6.00pm
Chambers Franklyn Joondalup City Wolves v Bethanie Warwick Senators – HBF Arena 6.00pm
Kalamunda Eastern Suns v Cachet Homes Mandurah Magic – Ray Owen Sports Centre 6.30pm