Women's Game Preview - North Adelaide v Norwood
Saturday April 17, 8:15pm at Hillcrest
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North Adelaide Rockets |
Norwood Flames |
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Minor Round Record |
5th - 3 Wins and 2 Losses |
4th – 3 Wins and 2 Losses |
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Head Coach |
Mike McKay |
Simon Pritchard |
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Top Scorer |
Jo Hill – 12.0 ppg |
Rebecca Duke – 12.2 ppg |
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Top Rebounder |
Jo Hill – 10.3 rpg |
Rachel Herrick – 9.8 rpg |
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Top Assists |
Tania Dhu – 3.3 apg |
Rebecca Duke – 4.6 apg |
After comfortable wins over Centrals and South, Norwood has come up short against "big guns" Sturt and West, and need to win this game to prove that they are worthy of being considered as a legitimate contender for the premiership, rather than a team not likely to make it past week two of the finals.
Rebecca Duke is a star of this league, and last week against quality opposition in West Adelaide, had 20 points, 9 rebounds and 9 steals. 17 year old Marissa Stabile will probably get the first matchup on Duke, though is likely to get help from Jo Hill and Carla Boyd as the game progresses.
Stabile herself has had a fantastic start to the season, perhaps kick-started by her success at the Under 20 Nationals. She had a career high 17 points against Southern, then matched it last week against South. Shooting at 54.3%, Stabile is effective around the basket, but this week coach Mike McKay will call on her for a herculean effort at the other end of the floor to curb Rebecca Duke.
Rachel Herrick will also cause problems for North, though Hill has the strength to defend her in the keyway, and the more mobile Hill may be just as much of a handful for Norwood if she can drag Herrick away from the basket.
In the backcourt, North start the trio of Tahnee Mansfield, Shannon McKay and Kirsty Williams. Mansfield, who returned to North Adelaide after a stint with Central Districts, looks more comfortable in an environment where she is required to shoulder less of the scoring load. McKay, now in her fourth Central ABL season, is the Rockets sharp-shooter and subtracting a tough night against Forestville, is shooting at over 50% from the 3 point line.
After Duke, Norwood’s next highest scorers have been small forward Jordan Walker-Roberts (14.0 ppg) and backup centre Kate Shierlaw (11.0 ppg). Against West Adelaide, Walker-Roberts was hamstrung by early fouls, and Shierlaw also had a down game, and both would be hoping to return to form in this game.
With the teams tied for fourth at 3 and 2, there's no clear favourite in this game.
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