The strength of the Central ABL competition will be strongly tested, when champions West Adelaide take on the Ballarat Lady Miners in the ABA National Quarter-Finals.

Ballarat fields a lineup that includes Bulleen Melbourne's Karen Ashby, as well as two-time Canberra Capitals champion Kellie Abrams. The Miners lost the SEABL Grand Final to Bendigo and qualified for the national finals by virtue of the SEABL receiving a wildcard (Norwood is the recipient of another wildcard, as the second placed Central ABL team).

The SEABL is rightly considered the best league in Australia outside the NBL. It is spread across multiple states, and includes teams such as Ballarat from larger regional areas, many of which include WNBL players. It's not surprising that SEABL teams have won the last 5 ABA national championships, but to make matters worse for West, Ballarat have won the last two of them. While all Bearcats bar Jess Mahony will be participating in their first ABA Nationals, the Lady Miners are gunning for a "three-peat". Ashby's last trip to the Nationals earned her a Finals MVP award, and last week she was also named the 2007 SEABL MVP.While noone would label West Adelaide as "favourites", the Bearcats are certainly the best placed of all Central ABL teams to make an impact at this level. The absence of Lauren King and Cherie Smith hurts, but Adelaide Lightning captain Sam Woosnam's WNBL experience will be invaluable. Jess Mahoney has shown enough since being reactivated this season to indicate that a future WNBL call up is not out of the question, and will relish her first opportunity to perform at this level since being named ABA National Finals MVP in 2003.

Woosnam and Kate Jenner will have a tough battle keeping the Miners off the boards. Ashby alone averages 9.9 rebounds a game in tougher, taller league, and had a season high 22 rebounds against North-West Tasmania. Chantal Allgood is also a presence on the boards, and Abrams is an effective distributor if allowed to get inside the key.

West will need Laura Breeding, Jenner, and Irene Sourlatzis to be at their best, to have any chance of stopping the Miners from marching towards another National Finals campaign, where it would be hoping for another shot at its 2007 nemesis Bendigo.