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THE Mandurah Magic joined the Perry Lakes Hawks in being one game from the Women’s SBL grand final for 2017 after winning Game 1 of its semi-final series against the Lakeside Lightning on Saturday night.

The Magic hosted the Lightning in the Game 1 battle at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre and came away with the 86-76 victory.

That leaves them one win away from what would be a fifth grand final appearance for Mandurah with Game 2 to take place at Lakeside Recreation Centre on Friday night.

The result came after the Perry Lakes Hawks defeated the Willetton Tigers in their Game 1 at Bendat Basketball Centre 93-81 on Friday night.

Game 2 of that series takes place Saturday night at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

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The Saturday night Women’s semi-final action took place in Mandurah with the Magic having advanced after beating the Perth Redbacks in two games while the Lightning did the same by overcome last year’s grand finalists the Joondalup City Wolves.

Lakeside came into Saturday night’s game on an eight-game winning run and started on fire scoring the opening five points.

But after the Lightning led 11-7, the Magic got going and scored the games next 17 points to turn that deficit into a 24-11 lead with two minutes remaining in the first quarter.

Mandurah still held a 25-17 advantage heading into quarter-time but Lakeside did well to respond in the second period and to trail by just a point at the main break.

But the Magic proved too strong through the second half outscoring the Lightning 22 points to 17 in the first quarter and 22 to 18 in the fourth to claim the 10-point victory.

The back court of the Magic was outstanding and clearly gave the Lightning guards plenty of thinking to do now heading into Game 2.

Nici Gilday starred with 32 points and five rebounds while shooting 13-of-25 from the field. Casey Mihovilovich added 17 points as well for Mandurah while Rachel Halleen did a good job making life hard for Ali Schwagmeyer and contributing five points and four assists.

Carly Boag had an impressive night inside as well with 14 points, 18 rebounds and four steals for the Magic with Bree Klasztorny contributing 12 points, seven boards and three assists.

Sydnee Fipps started strong for Lakeside and finished the night with 21 points, five rebounds and three assists. Schwagmeyer ended up with a hard-earned 17 points, 12 rebounds and five assists to go with six turnovers.

Sam Roscoe had a fascinating inside battle largely with Klasztorny but also with Boag at times, ending up with 18 points and three rebounds.

Ash Grant added seven points and eight rebounds for the Lightning, Jess Van Schie six points and Tiahrn Flynn five.

WOMEN’S SBL GAME 1 SEMI FINAL RESULTS
FRIDAY
Perry Lakes Hawks 93 defeated Willetton Tigers 81

SATURDAY
Mandurah Magic 86 defeated Lakeside Lightning 76

Photo by Sports Imagery Australia