Reigning grand finalists advance (QF Women's Wrap)
ALL four of the women's SBL quarter-final match ups were decided in two games with the Kalamunda Eastern Suns, South West Slammers, Rockingham Flames and Wanneroo Wolves all advancing to the semi-finals.
That means that the top-seeded Willetton Tigers are out as are the fourth-ranked Lakeside Lightning, sixth-placed Stirling Senators and seventh-placed Cockburn Cougars.
The Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers pulled off the upset of the quarter finals, in terms of the regular season final standings any way, by beating the Willetton Tigers.
However, the Slammers were never going to be any usual eighth-seed as the defending champions and they showed that with a win at Eaton Recreation Centre in Game 1 and then with the series shifting to Willetton Basketball Stadium, South West finished the job on Friday night.
The Slammers beat the Tigers 68-62 thanks to a dominant second half where they outscored the home team 36 points to 21 to end up winning by six.
The Rockingham Flames finished the regular season in second position having played in last year's women's grand final and now are through to the semi finals after a 89-70 win over the Cockburn Cougars at Mike Barnett Sports Complex on Friday night.
That comes after the Flames had also beaten the Cougars 105-89 the previous Friday.
The Kalamunda Eastern Suns defeated the Lakeside Lightning by three points in Game 1 at Ray Owen Sports Centre and then on Friday with the series shifting to Lakeside Recreation Centre, the Suns downed the Lightning 71-60 secure the series win two-nil.
The Wanneroo Wolves were the top-ranked women's team for much of the season before slipping to third place heading into the finals but the Wolfpack wrapped up the quarter-final series against the Stirling Senators with a 75-68 victory at Joondalup Basketball Stadium.
That was after an 84-59 thrashing at Warwick Leisure Centre the previous Saturday.
There were plenty of standout individual performers to close out the quarter-final action on the weekend.
On Friday night, Darcee Garbin put in a huge performance for the Flames with 30 points, 17 rebounds, four steals, two assists and two blocked shots.
Stephanie Jones tried to match her for the Cougars finishing with 36 points and 11 rebounds.
Kimberly Sitzmann again led the way for the Slammers with 22 points, seven rebounds and five assists with Melissa Marsh returning for the Tigers with 16 points while Lisa Wallbutton had 14 points and 16 rebounds in the losing effort.
Jennie Rintala starred for the Suns on Friday with 22 points and 13 rebounds with Courtney Byrnes leading the way for the Lightning with 19 points.
Then on Saturday, Nikita-Lee Martin led the way for Wanneroo with 21 points and six rebounds with Casey Lockwood adding 16 points and 10 boards.
Amber Land did all she could for Stirling with 24 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots with Taylor Lilley scoring 18 points.
Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Ashley Pearce
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