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PLENTY goes on the line in Round 8 of the West Coast Classic with the Lakeside Lightning’s finals hopes likely to be decided with how they perform firstly against the Joondalup Wolves and then the Warwick Senators.

Those are just two of the enthralling match ups to look forward to in Round 8 of the Women’s West Coast Classic as we enter the final fortnight of the competition before the top four teams take part in the finals weekend.

The Lakeside Lightning have been impressive for the most part in the West Coast Classic led by Ash Isenbarger and have now won three games in-a-row, but now this is a defining 24 hours for them against two teams above them currently on the standings.

First up for Lakeside on Friday night sees them take on the league-leading Joondalup Wolves at HBF Arena.

There are fascinating match ups all across the board in this one including the battle of bigs with Ellyce Ironmonger against her former team for Lakeside against Amber Land and Kayla Steindl.

Next up for the Lightning is on Saturday night back home at Lakeside Recreation Centre when they host Stacey Barr and the Warwick Senators.

The Senators will also be coming off a game on Friday night, but they are coming off a double win weekend against Willetton and Kalamunda which saw Barr score 26 points against the Tigers and 49 against the Eastern Suns.

So this will tell us a lot about the Lightning’s finals hopes how they perform against the Wolves and Senators in the space of 24 hours.

They could very well announce themselves as genuine championship threats in the West Coast Classic or they could be battling just the make the top four at all depending on how they go.

ROUND 7 WEST COAST CLASSIC WOMEN’S WRAP 

The stage is now set for a fascinating last two weeks in the West Coast Classic with six teams genuinely still in the mix to reach the top four while the rest are more than capable of causing some upsets too.

Round 8 in the West Coast Classic begins on Friday night with the Perry Lakes Hawks taking on the Kalamunda Eastern Suns in another match with plenty on the line.

It’s virtually an elimination final for both teams with the Hawks coming into it in sixth position at 6-3 while the Eastern Suns are 6-3 in fifth spot as well.

The winner will put themselves in a good position to still play finals while the loser will all but fall out of contention setting the stage for a tremendous contest highlighted by the battle of WNBL bigs between Nat Burton and Jessie Edwards.

Then also on Friday night, the East Perth Eagles host the Warwick Senators at Herb Graham Recreation Centre.

East Perth will be looking for its second win of the West Coast Classic and try to continue their improvement while the Senators come into the game on a five-game winning streak and in second position at 7-1 so it’s their top two spot to lose at this point.

Then as well as the Wolves hosting the Lightning on Friday night, the Mandurah Magic are at home to the Rockingham Flames at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre.

While the Magic are out of the finals hunt, they would love nothing more than to hurt the Flames’ hopes with Rockingham looking to bounce back from a loss to Kalamunda where they were already without Tayah Burrows and then lost Ariana Hetherington to an ankle injury.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO LATEST SBL SHOOTAROUND PODCAST WITH WANDERING DISTILLERY PLAYER OF THE WEEK, BASSETT-SCARFE REALTY PLAYER OF THE YEAR UPDATE AND SPECIAL GUEST STACEY BARR 

Round 8 in the West Coast Classic continues on Saturday night with the South West Slammers hosting the Joondalup Wolves at Eaton Recreation Centre as bottom goes up against top.

The Lightning and Senators then lock horns at Lakeside Recreation Centre while the fresh Cockburn Cougars will be hosting the Mandurah Magic coming off hosting Rockingham on Friday when they meet at Wally Hagan Stadium.

WEST COAST CLASSIC 2020 – WOMEN
ROUND 8

FRIDAY
Perry Lakes Hawks v Kalamunda Eastern Suns – Bendat Basketball Centre 6.30pm
East Perth Eagles v Warwick Senators – Herb Graham Recreation Centre 6.30pm
Joondalup Wolves v Lakeside Lightning – HBF Arena 6.30pm
Mandurah Magic v Rockingham Flames – Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre 6.30pm

SATURDAY
South West Slammers v Joondalup Wolves – Eaton Recreation Centre 5.00pm
Lakeside Lightning v Warwick Senators – Lakeside Recreation Centre 5.00pm
Cockburn Cougars v Mandurah Magic – Wally Hagan Stadium 5.00pm