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THE Perry Lakes Hawks continued their resurgence as defending Women’s SBL champions on Friday night while the Perth Redbacks again won big as did the Rockingham Flames and the Lakeside Lightning prevailed in a thriller over the Cockburn Cougars.

There were four matches in the Women’s SBL on Friday night to open Round 14 of the 2018 season starting with the defending champion Perry Lakes Hawks repeating the dose from last year’s semi finals, beating the Willetton Tigers 73-53.

The Perth Redbacks continued their impressive form too beating the struggling Joondalup Wolves 86-60 while the Rockingham Flames defeated the Mandurah Magic 75-63.

The tight affair of the night took place at Lakeside Recreation Centre with the Lakeside Lightning retaining their advantage in top spot beating the Cockburn Cougars 87-85.

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Friday night in the Women’s SBL saw the Hawks take on the Tigers and Perry Lakes continued its resurgence with a fifth straight victory beating Willetton by 20 points at Bendat Basketball Centre.

After starting the season 1-9, the defending champions are now on a roll with those five straight wins to be closing in on a playoff spot and Friday night might have been the most impressive performance of all.

Against a strong Willetton team who came into the game in third spot at 10-4, the Hawks dominated the second half with 41 points to 21 to win by 20.

Last year’s Grand Final MVP Toni Farnworth starred for the Lady Hawks with 26 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and two assists including hitting 5/10 from three-point range.

Nat Burton added 13 points, 14 rebounds, three blocks and two assists as well for Perry Lakes with Gabby O’Sullivan contributing 10 points and six assists starting in place of Lauren Jeffers.

Kate Anthony also had nine points and three assists, and Emily Burton eight points and four assists.

Ashli Payne top-scored for the Tigers with 11 points and nine rebounds with Desiree Kelley contributing eight points and five boards, and Sam Norwood seven points and nine boards.

The thriller of the night took place at Lakeside Recreation Centre with the league-leading Lightning facing a stiff challenge from the Cougars trying to break into the top eight.

Lakeside started on fire with 27 points to 17 in the first quarter and another 31 points to 21 in the second to be well on top at half-time leading 58-38 to appear on track for a comfortable win.

But the Cougars showed tremendous heart to fight back in the third quarter and then give themselves a chance, but the Lightning prevailed by two points for a seventh straight win to improve to 15-1 while Cockburn slips to 5-10.

Fresh off signing with the Perth Lynx in the WNBL, Ali Schwagmeyer delivered 23 points, 11 rebounds and five assists for Lakeside with Sydnee Fipps adding 20 points, five boards and three assists.

Sam Roscoe also had 11 points, four rebounds and two blocked shots with Paris Duffield contributing nine points and two steals, and Courtney Byrnes eight points and three assists.

Kisha Lee delivered another impressive performance for Cockburn with 26 points, 12 rebounds and three steals with BJ Moyes contributing 21 points, nine boards and seven assists, Isabelle Miotti 16 points, six rebounds and four assists, and Taryn Priestly 12 points.

The Flames and Magic are local rivals and with both trying to be top four teams in the Women’s SBL in 2018, it shaped as an important contest at Mike Barnett Sports Complex on Friday night.

With the Magic having lost Carly Boag for the season and still without Casey Mihovilovich, Rockingham proved too strong but it took until the fourth quarter for them to pull away.

It was a tight battle for three quarters but the Flames pulled away in the fourth period with 26 points to 14 to win by 12 and improve to an 11-3 record with a fifth straight win. Mandurah has now lost three straight to be 7-7.

D’Lesha Lloyd top-scored for the Flames with 22 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals with fellow import Taneisha Harrison producing 15 points, three steals, two rebounds and two assists.

Maddison Allen also had 14 points, seven rebounds and three blocks for Rockingham, and Ariana Hetherington 10 points, four boards, three steals and two assists.

Mandurah import Anita Brown had a big performance with 29 points, eight rebounds and four steals on 13/26 shooting from the floor and 3/6 from beyond the arc.

Regina Palusna also had 11 points, nine rebounds and five blocked shots for the Magic with Kelly Bailey contributing eight points and nine boards.

The Redbacks then looked to further consolidate their top four position hosting the struggling Wolves at Belmont Oasis on Friday night, and they were scarcely troubled.

By half-time, Perth was up 42-31 and then went on with in the second half to win by 26 points and improve to an 11-4 record while it was a ninth straight loss for the now 4-12 Joondalup.

Makailah Dyer finished with 21 points and six assists for the Redbacks on 8/15 shooting from the floor with Kayla Standish contributing 17 points and six rebounds.

Jess Jakens added 14 points and six rebounds, Bianca Donovan 13 points, four assists and three steals, and Mikayla Pirini 11 points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists.

The Lady Wolfpack were still without leaders Shani Amos and Ellyce Ironmonger along with coach Craig Friday with Amy Kidner top-scoring with 18 points and six rebounds. Nikita Martin added 11 points and four assists, and Abbie Ironmonger 10 points, seven boards, three assists and two blocks.

WEEK 14 WOMEN’S SBL FIXTURES
FRIDAY
Perry Lakes Hawks 73 defeated Willetton Tigers 53
Perth Redbacks 86 defeated Joondalup Wolves 60
Lakeside Lightning 87 defeated Cockburn Cougars 85
Rockingham Flames 75 defeated Mandurah Magic 63

SATURDAY
South West Slammers v East Perth Eagles – Eaton Recreation Centre 6.00pm
Kalamunda Eastern Suns v Rockingham Flames – Ray Owen Sports Centre 6.30pm

SUNDAY
Stirling Senators v Kalamunda Eastern Suns – Warwick Stadium 12.00pm