2016 FINALS REVIEW

Completing a dominant season, the Be Active Western Stars have won the 2016 Championship with a sweep of the finals weekend.

They took care of the Sydney Metro Blues in the Semi-Final on Friday night, winning by 16 points behind a 30-20 advantage in the paint and when they met again in the Grand Final on Sunday, it was a similar result as they built off a 23-13 opening term to win by 14.

The Blues were unable to stop Amber Merritt (43 points) in the Semi-Final while she finished with an average of 33.3 points, 14.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists for the weekend.

Chihiro Kitada was also unstoppable, recording 30 points, 13 boards and four steals in the Grand Final while hitting 13-25 from the field.

While Georgia Inglis was not as required on the scoreboard, her 17 total assists for the weekend came with just two turnovers and four steals.

For the Blues, Cobi Crispin held her own with an average of 20.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists and she top-scored with 17 points when her side defeated the Sydney University Flames in the Preliminary Final on Saturday night.

That victory ensured a spot in the Grand Final and also proved their depth as Georgia Munro-Cook and Jessica Pellow combined for 27 points off the bench on 13-23 shooting.

Bridie Kean stepped up in the following game on Sunday, collecting 18 points and seven assists in 40 minutes, following a Semi-Final in which she flirted with a triple-double (eight, eight rebounds, nine assists).

Despite the disappointment of a loss in the Preliminary Final, the Flames bounced back on Sunday morning in the bronze medal game, accounting for the Kilsyth Cobras with a 72-44 win.

Three players hit double-figures on the scoreboard, led by double-doubles from Annabelle Lindsay (20 points, ten rebounds) and Sarah Stewart (26 points, 15 assists) while Hannah Dodd had 11 points, seven boards and six assists.

That victory was similar to their Semi-Final win over the Cobras where Lindsay’s 20 points and 14 boards led Sydney Uni to a 23-point victory.

Kilsyth were only able to play a line-up of six players throughout the weekend though with Alice Hammond (26 points, 19 rebounds) the stand-out.

Melanie Adams added 11 points in the first meeting before Jamie Villalon collected 13 in the bronze medal game but an average of 28.5 turnovers hurt them.

All results from the finals weekend can be found on the WNWBL website here.




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