Title favourites square off (Round 3 women's preview)

Two of the leading women's State Basketball League championship contenders face off in a crucial round three battle when Wanneroo Wolves host Willetton Tigers on Saturday.

The Wolves have been the form team early in the WSBL season, winning all four of their games to sit top of the table, but the Tigers shape as by far their biggest test.

Three-time defending champion Willetton has only played once so far, beating Stirling comfortably, but is widely tipped to compete for the title again.

But the new-look Tigers team will certainly be challenged by a Wanneroo outfit desperate to go some way towards its heartbreaking semi-final loss to them last year.

East Perth Eagles were also predicted to be strong championship contenders before the season but have been hugely disappointing so far and must turn that around when they face Stirling Senators.

In the absence of West Coast Waves star Samantha Norwood, who is resting for the early part of the campaign, the Eagles have lost all three games and haven't scored more than 55 points in a match.

Stirling recorded a stunning thrashing of Mandurah last week and will be hoping to build on that when it faces the Eagles and South West Slammers.

But the Slammers made a positive start to their campaign with a comfortable win over East Perth and have shown signs of making massive improvement after winning just twice last year.

The Magic's loss to the Senators last week left them winless in ninth spot and it's crucial for them to put up a better effort against Perth Redbacks.

Mandurah, which has been hurt by the off-season departures of star players Casey Mihovilovich and Hailey Dunham, will face a big challenge against a Redbacks side which has lost only to Wanneroo in its four games.

Cockburn Cougars and Rockingham Flames are both yet to win this year but that will change when the two meet on Saturday.

Despite the return of WNBL player Kaye Tucker, the Flames have struggled to improve on last year's wooden spoon campaign and will be desperate to make amends by exploiting a new-look Cockburn team.

Article by Jacob Kagi
Photo by Helen Theoharakis (Hoop Shots)

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