Women's Previews - Rounds 6 and 7

Nicole Romeo

Eastern Mavericks v Norwood Flames, Friday April 20, 6:30pm at Adelaide Hills

Eastern would be well rested from last week's bye, and keen to return to the winner's circle. The Mavs surprised many with their 2 and 0 start to the season, before succumbing to the strength of North and Sturt. They share the scoring load fairly evenly between Debra Wilcox, Amanda Williams, Jane Symons, Jamie Fricker and Tess Madgen, all of whom do a good job of advancing the ball quickly. Norwood upset Southern last week for its first win of the season, with Carly Stark coming alive for 24 points including 6 three pointers, and Nicole Romeo scoring 25 including 5 threes. Given Norwood's propensity for aggressive full court defence, this should be a fast paced game, with no clear favourite.

Southern Tigers v West Adelaide Bearcats, Friday April 20, 6:30pm at Morphett Vale

The Tigers may have been surprised by the hot shooting of the Flames last week, and Noel Robertson might be concerned that his team gave up 28 points in the last quarter. Still, Southern has had a good start to the season, especially in a close win against North, and in being the closest team to undefeated Sturt. The team's performance seems to align itself with its opposition, with no margins greater than 6 points since a 12 point win against Woodville in week 1. West has improved in each game it has played, and last week's win against the then-undefeated Panthers could be a sign of how well the group is coming together. John Gillies would be hoping that his team peaks in a major round crescendo rather than now, but would be happy to continue their winning streak. 

North Adelaide Rockets v South Adelaide Panthers, Friday, April 20, 6:30pm at Hillcrest

In each game this season, North has alternated between winning and losing. They demonstrated their strength in double overtime against West in game one, and were convincing against Eastern and Woodville, but just fell short against Forestville and Southern. This could perhaps be expected given the team's youth, highlighted by the retention this month of Lauren Mansfield and Erin Lorenzini in Australian Under 19 and Under 21 squads respectively. South should be a great test for North, given their only loss has been to league-leading Sturt. Glenn Shaw has the Panthers playing well as a team, and would be relishing another opportunity to play against a team that is finals bound. Veteran Vikki Kelson is quietly producing another quality season, and Jenine Browne and Kerrin Truslove make for a good balance of strength across positions. North's strengths are skewed towards the guard positions, and how well they defend Browne and Truslove could determine the outcome.

Woodville Warriors v Sturt Sabres, Friday April 20, 6:30pm at DH Dome

Prior to last week's heavy loss to North, Woodville has showed some promising signs this season. A 72 point output against Southern was impressive, and while regular contributions from Jodie Barratt are expected, her 18 point/15 rebound effort last week was another highlight. Livewire Sydney Comets guard Sarah Costello, who has also played recently in Italy, joins the Warriors for tonight's game, and should provide some much needed experience. A 2-2 scoreline with 2 minutes to go in the first quarter of last week's game between Sturt and Forestville may have not been a promoter's dream for the reopening of Pasadena, but basketball fanatics would have appreciated the Sabres defence, which kept Forestville to just 43 points for the game. With Angela Marino returning after a week off, expect the Sabres to continue its unbeaten run.

Sturt Sabres v North Adelaide Rockets, Saturday April 21, 6:30pm at Pasadena

Two of the Central ABL's high achievers meet in Pasadena's second hit out since its year- long injury. Sturt was undefeated prior to this weekend, although last night's match against South may have been its best challenge yet. Hannah Bowley's 22 last week was her highest score of the season, but any one of Sturt's starters is capable of producing such a total in any given game. North has had a roller coaster season, but Lauren Mansfield and Erin Lorenzini would relish the opportunity to go up against the league's premier point guard, Angela Marino. Sturt did an excellent defensive job in keeping Forestville to 42 points, but shouldn't count on doing the same against a Rocket team that had 102 last week.

West Adelaide Bearcats v Eastern Mavericks, Sat. April 21, 6:30pm at Pt. Adelaide

West's victory over league leader South was a clear indication that its 0 and 2 start might just have be an early  hiccup on the way to a stellar season. The biggest challenge for experienced coach John Gillies is to prepare the team for round 10 and 11 matchups against West and Sturt, both of whom beat them earlier in the season. As Jess Mahony gets more games under her belt, expect the Bearcats to be more dominant. In their games against Sturt and North, Eastern struggled to score at the same rate as against Forestville and Woodville, and may face the same battle against West. Jane Symons has been a consistent scorer and rebounder, and expect her to have a strong game against her former club, but West should overpower Eastern as they have their last two opponents.  

Norwood Flames v Forestville Eagles, Saturday April 21, 6:30pm at Mars

Fresh from its first win last week, Norwood would see tonight's game as another opportunity to get up the floor defensively. This tactic has worked well at times for the Flames, but it wasn't until it was backed up with some great shooting last week from Carly Stark and Nicole Romeo that it paid off. Forestville proved it can match the best teams in the competition by defeating North two weeks ago, though it would be disappointed not to get closer to Sturt last week. The Eagles would look forward to the future return of Rebecca Duke, but the scoring punch of Dee Ranford and Kate Malpass should help it to victory in this game.

South Adelaide Panthers v Southern Tigers, Saturday April 21, 6:30pm at Marion

The Panther-Tiger rivalry is perhaps stronger in the women's league than the men, partly due to the movement of players between the two clubs. South are on their way towards their strongest season in years, and a loss to favourites West Adelaide last week shouldn't make too much of a dent in its finals aspirations. Southern was looking good until losing to a streak shooting Norwood last week, and would be hoping to return to the form they showed against Sturt and North. Tracey Beatty had another good game last week, and should have a good battle with Kerrin Truslove.




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