WNBL Preview

Yep, I'm still waaaayyyyyy behind so here is the preview of this weeks WNBL action courtesy of: www.wnbl.com.au

WNBL: ROUND 3 PREVIEW

A mouth-watering clash between heavyweights Bulleen Boomers and Sydney Uni Flames is the highlight of Round 3 of the Women’s National Basketball League.

You can follow the WNBL action on www.wnbl.com.au, with LIVE STATS, on WNBL Radio, and on ABC TV.

FRIDAY OCTOBER 16

ACUVUE Sydney Uni Flames (5^th) v Global Metals Bulleen Boomers (1^st), 7.00pm* AEDT at ACUVUE Sports Hall, Sydney University Sports and Aquatic Centre. ABC TV GAME OF THE WEEK – will be broadcast on delay from 1.00pm AEDT Saturday October 17 on ABC1

In the most anticipated game of the round the two pre-season favourites finally meet.

The key match up here will be between Opals starting centre Suzy Batkovic-Brown and Australian basketball’s ‘next big thing’ Liz Cambage.

Cambage has made a smooth transition into the Bulleen lineup after graduating from the AIS in August but coming up against two-time Olympian Batkovic-Brown will be the 18-year-old’s toughest test yet.

This game will be broadcast with live audio commentary on WNBL Radio from 6.30pm.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Sydney Uni 29 – 21 Bulleen

Bendigo Bank Spirit (4^th) v BDS Logan Thunder (6^th), 7.30pm at Bendigo Stadium

While Bendigo easily accounted for Logan in two games last season, the Thunder came within two points of upsetting the Canberra Capitals last week.

Bendigo point guard Kristi Harrower was named Player of the Week in Round 2 and Logan will need to limit her influence on the game if they hope to get the win. Harrower and forward Lauren King have been the main destroyers for the Spirit but Logan has a greater contribution from across the team.

Logan will aim to travel better this season after claiming only three wins on the road in 2008/09. While two wins were over the 10^th-placed AIS, Logan’s first road win was an impressive victory over the Adelaide Lightning, and the Thunder became the only team to defeat Adelaide at home last season.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Bendigo 2 – 0 Logan

SATURDAY OCTOBER 17

Australian Institute of Sport (10^th) v Global Metals Bulleen Boomers (1^st), 7.00pm at AIS Training Hall

After a 110-40 drubbing at the hands of Bulleen last week, the AIS will be hoping to reduce that margin on their home court.

Bulleen will have only 24 hours to recover from their ABC TV Game of the Week clash with the Flames on Friday night and will have their fitness tested by the young students.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Bulleen 35 – 26 AIS

Go for 2 and 5 Perth Lynx (9^th) v Adelaide Link Lightning (3^rd), 7.30pm at Albany Leisure Centre

A tough assignment for the Lynx as the Lightning have been ruthless in their first two outings.

Adelaide’s depth will be too much for Perth to handle.

The Lynx are still searching for their first win and while American import Takia Starks impressed in her debut, last week against Bendigo she managed only 1-of-9 from the floor for two points and will need to find her feet against the third-placed Lightning.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Adelaide 37 – 9 Perth

Dandenong Jayco Rangers (8^th) v BDS Logan Thunder (6^th), 8.30pm at Dandenong Basketball Stadium

Whilst Dandenong won the pair’s two meetings early in 2008/09 by 15 points, the Thunder should be a tougher opponent this time around.

Thunder’s Polish centre Marta Dydek and Dandenong’s imports all had quiet games in Round 2 after strong showings in the opening round and it will be the Rangers’ Casey Nash, Ashley Lindsey and Megan Moody who will need to stand up against the spirited Thunder.

Logan will need to bounce back quickly from their Friday night encounter against the Spirit in Bendigo in order to match the fresh Rangers side.

This game will be broadcast with live audio commentary on WNBL Radio from 8.00pm.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Dandenong 2 – 0 Logan

SUNDAY OCTOBER 18

Canberra TransACT Capitals (7^th) v Australian Institute of Sport (10^th), 5.00pm at Southern Cross Stadium, Canberra

A slow start to the season will have the Caps chomping at the bit to get back on the winner’s list and should do so in this Canberra derby.

It would have been an uphill struggle for the AIS regardless but it will be made more difficult by meeting the Capitals after playing top-of-the-table Bulleen on Saturday night.

A Canberra side boasting Opals Carly Wilson, Marianna Tolo, Natalie Hurst and Jessica Bibby will aim to assert their dominance and get their season back on track.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Canberra 45 – 13 AIS

Blaze Find Glory, upset Tigers

The Gold Coast Blaze pulled off a huge win last night over the visiting Melbourne Tigers. I am still inundated with uni work so here is the game report from www.nbl.com.au.

Blaze tame Tigers

BOXSCORE

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

An energetic Gold Coast Blaze have climbed off the bottom of the NBL ladder with a 98-86 win over Melbourne Tigers at the Gold Coast Convention Centre on Wednesday night.

The victory marked the first time the Blaze had defeated the Tigers in five attempts since their inception three years ago.

Gold Coast were dominant in the first and fourth quarters to take the points from a Tigers squad who was already without Chris Anstey and lost Ben Knight to a knee injury in the opening minutes.

Chris Goulding had a career-high 17 points for the Blaze and import Erron Maxey had 29 of his own as the men in blue pulled away from Melbourne in the final stages.

Mark Worthington was valiant for the Victorian side with a game-high 31 points, but ran out off legs with very little support from his weakened squad.

In an end-to-end battle the visitors only got on top for short periods of the match and lacked the potency to constantly threaten the Blaze once they locked down on Worthington midway through the third.

After going toe-to-toe for the opening three quarters, Joey Wright started the final term with four guards - Goulding, Ayinde Ubaka, Adam Gibson and Tyson Demos – and ran a zone defence.

The Blaze little men took the ball away from the tiring Tigers enabling the home side to establish an eight-point lead early in the term which Melbourne failed to breach.

James Harvey had an uncharacteristic night on his home court, tallying just 15 points but the emergence of Goulding as an attacking weapon is sure to ease some of the load on the superstar shooting guard.

Looking to break a two-match losing streak the Blaze fired out of the blocks with young-gun Goulding and new import Maxey firing at will to open a double digit lead.

But at the other end of the court the home-side struggled to get a handle on Worthington who was looking confident inside, outside and at the charity stripe.

Melbourne's passers quickly recognised the opportunity and fed the big-man who racked up 11 of his points by the first break.

The visitors rallied in the second term, Luke Kendall drilled a pair of bombs and Sam Mackinnon showed his skills by rounding his man, then beating two more on the way to the hoop for a circus-shot, and one.

By half-time the Tigers had taken a one-point lead.

Both teams tightened in the third term and went tit-for-tat until the Blaze exploded in the final seconds to grab a four-point lead.

Goulding drove the lane and dished for Greg Vanderjagt to finish before Mike Vukona got a steal and handed off to Gibson who was ice-cold under pressure to nail a jump-shot as the siren sounded.

The Blaze took a four-point lead into the final term and never looked back.

Looking ahead the Gold Coast (2-3) have the quick turnaround to face the Taipans in Cairns on Friday night while the struggling Tigers (1-3) have a week to prepare for their next assignment – a road-trip to Adelaide.

Gold Coast Blaze 98 (Maxey 29, Goulding 17, Harvey 15)
Melbourne Tigers 86 (Worthington 31, Corletto 17, Johnson 12)
@ Gold Coast Convention Centre, 14/10/09. Crowd: 2,823.

Wednesday night preview

Again, in lieu of my normal preview, here is the one from: nbl.com.au.

Melbourne @ Gold Coast Preview

October 13, 2009, 09:00 PM AEST

By: Sportal

Gold Coast Blaze v Melbourne Tigers

Where and When: Wednesday 14 October, Gold Coast Convention Centre, 6.30pm (local)

Pre-Season:
Blaze: 5-4
Tigers: 7-3

Season So Far:
Blaze: 1-3
Tigers: 1-2

Past Three Head-to Head:
Gold Coast Blaze 107-116 Melbourne Tigers, Round 18, 2009
Melbourne Tigers 123-111 Gold Coast Blaze, Round 7, 2008
Melbourne Tigers 92-76 Gold Coast Blaze, Round 1, 2008

Season Series:
First match

Current Standings:
Blaze: 8th
Tigers: 7th

While we are still only a few weeks into the season, life has become a little uncomfortable for both Gold Coast and Melbourne.

The Blaze and Tigers have only one win each so far and this match is a good opportunity for either team to get back on track.

The stakes are a little higher for the hosts, who are on the bottom of the ladder with a 1-3 record.

A loss to Melbourne on Wednesday would generate genuine concern for Gold Coast, who would be stuck with a 20 percent winning rate from five matches.

But the Tigers are staring at a 1-3 record if unsuccessful against the Blaze and last year's grand finalists will be keen to get its season back on an even keel.

Unfortunately for the Blaze, history is against them as they have never beaten Melbourne since they were admitted into the competition two years ago.

And if an overall 0-5 record against the Tigers wasn't bad enough, Nathan Crosswell and Tommy Greer are expected back for the clash.

Gold Coast has been competitive in most of its matches so far this season, with James Harvey and imported duo Ayinde Ubaka and Erron Maxey all starring, but it has lacked that killer instinct.

Conversely, Melbourne started the campaign with a bang in beating title favourite New Zealand and almost beating the Breakers again on their home turf eight days later.

But the Tigers came crashing down on the weekend with one of their worst-ever performances that saw them humiliated by Townsville 103-68.

An aggressive response from Melbourne should be expected.

Luke Kendall is in fine touch and it would be extremely surprising if the likes of Mark Worthington, Sam Mackinnon and Daryl Corletto didn't respond positively to their quiet individual performances against the Crocs.

The inclusions of Crosswell and Greer will bolster the Melbourne line-up and the Tigers should continue their flawless record against the Blaze.

Sportal Tip: Tigers by 9

The weeks News & Reviews/Previews

Allo All,

Unfortunately this week is a busy one for me so I am not doing much original content. In the meantime, here are some of the recent happenings courtesy of: basketball.net.au.

HARROWER NAMED ROUND 2 PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Opals point guard Kristi Harrower has been named the Women’s National Basketball League Player of the Week after two outstanding performances on the road in Round 2 of the competition.

Harrower led the Bendigo Spirit to one win and one loss on a two-game road trip, nearly single-handedly reigning in the Adelaide Lightning on Friday before top-scoring against the Go for 2 and 5 Perth Lynx on Sunday.

In the 76-62 loss to the Lightning Harrower led all scorers with 28 points including 3-of-6 from 3-point range and dominated all areas of the court with an equal team-best eight rebounds to go with four assists and two steals.

The 163cm guard said despite the loss Bendigo is on the way up.

“We thought that we lost the game against Adelaide in a five or six minute spurt in the second quarter and then we had to play catch up basketball for the rest of the game so it made it difficult. Against a quality team like Adelaide you can’t have those little lapses because they play too well to be able to get it back,” Harrower said.

“I think our team needs to take some positives away from the loss which is that we’ve only had two sessions together as a team. Moving forward I think there’s a lot of positives to come for the Spirit.”

Just over 24 hours later the 163cm on-court general posted 27 points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals in a 85-58 victory over Perth.

Fresh from signing a two-year deal with the Spirit, where she will also fill a role as General Manager of the club, Harrower said the all-round contribution against Perth is a goal for Bendigo.

“We came out of the blocks really fast against Perth, we started really well as a team and everyone was involved straight away. We weren’t relying on one or two people to score for us,” she said.

“Everyone was doing what they had to do and it started with our defence; we played great defence in the first quarter, forced them into turnovers and we got the chance to get out and run.

“Everyone contributed in the game, we had four people in double figures and that’s what we need to have every week. There’s a lot of work to be done but we’re quite happy sitting with 2 wins and 1 loss at the moment.”

Coming off a season with the Los Angeles Sparks in the WNBA, Harrower is re-adjusting to Australia’s elite female competition.

“I’ve been a little bit tired after the WNBA season but I feel okay when I’m out there on the floor. I feel like I need to get fitter to be able to sustain the fitness and play forty minutes.”

“There are times when I’ll get tired maybe in the second quarter; for me it’s just a matter of getting back in shape after being in America.”

Harrower and the Spirit take the floor again on Friday night when they host the Logan Thunder at Bendigo Stadium.

Opal centres Suzy Batkovic-Brown and Liz Cambage also led their teams to victory in Round 2.

Cambage top-scored with 31 points and grabbed a game high 10 rebounds to steer Bulleen over her former club, the Australian Institute of Sport, 110-40 on Saturday.

Batkovic-Brown also bagged a double-double to post game high numbers for the Sydney Uni Flames with 23 points and 11 rebounds in a 73-65 win over the Dandenong Rangers.

Other noteworthy performances from Round 2 included:

Adelaide Lightning: Sam Woosnam led the Lightning with 18 points, 11 boards, and 3 assists, captain Jessica Foley added a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds while Cayla Francis posted 13 points and 13 rebounds. Point guard Angela Marino matched Woosnam’s tally with 18 points, adding 3 rebounds and 3 assists.

AIS: Alice Kunek led the AIS with 8 points and 4 assists against Bulleen.

Bendigo Spirit: Lauren King supported Harrower with 16 points and 3 rebounds against Adelaide and recovered to add 17 points and 4 rebounds against the Lynx.

Bulleen Boomers: Liz Cambage stood tall for Bulleen with a game high 31 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks. Hanna Zavecz backed up from a 19-point performance in Round 1 to scored 15 points including 6-of-7 from the field, and added 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks. AIS graduate Rachel Jarry bagged 14 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.

Canberra Capitals: Jess Bibby led the Caps in a tough road double. She led all scorers with 23 points and 3 rebounds against Logan on Friday night, then posted 16 points and 2 rebounds against Townsville on Saturday. Tracey Beatty put in some great defensive work against the Thunder with 9 rebounds and 3 blocks before bagging 20 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists against Townsville.

Dandenong Rangers: AIS graduate Stephanie Cumming led the Rangers with 16 points, adding 3 boards and 3 assists. Veteran Caitlin Ryan added 15 points and 5 rebounds.

Logan Thunder: Captain Kristen Veal steered Logan on court with 11 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds, 5 steals and 2 blocks.

Perth Lynx: Ashley Gilmore bagged her second double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds, with 4 assists. 176cm guard Kate Malpass stepped up in with 15 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.

Sydney Uni Flames: Opal Suzy Batkovic-Brown once again led the Flames with 23 points, 11 rebounds and 2 steals. Eva Afeaki tallied a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Off-season recruit Deanne Butler went 3-of-4 from beyond the arc to score 11 points, and also grabbed 4 rebounds to go with 4 assists and 2 steals.

Townsville Fire: Amy Lewis and Aneka Davis led Townsville’s fightback over Canberra. Lewis posted 8 points in the final four minutes to score a team high 15 points with 4 assists. Davis notched up 14 points with an equal game high 11 rebounds and 4 assists.

WNBL Player of the Week 2009/10

Round 1: Elyse Penaluna (Bulleen Boomers)

HOMICIDE WINS NBL PLAYER OF THE WEEK

The Townsville Crocodiles’ enigmatic import Corey ‘Homicide’ Williams has taken out the National Basketball League Player of the Week award for Round 3.

For the week Williams averaged 25.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 8.0 assists as he helped his team to a 1-1 record on the road.

Williams came tantalisingly close to a rare triple-double (double-figures in three major statistical categories) in the opening game of the Crocs’ road trip against Adelaide, a 90-89 loss on Friday night.

Going head-to-head with 36ers import guard John Gilchrist, Homicide scored 32 points as well as adding 11 rebounds and nine assists. It took a clutch shot from Gilchrist (himself a leading contender for the weekly award after his 21-point, five-rebound, three-assist performance) to deny Williams and the Crocs the win.

Despite the heart breaker in Adelaide, Williams helped his team bounce back in style when they visited Melbourne the following night with a 103-68 walloping of the Tigers. Williams scored 19 points and added six rebounds and seven assists in the win.

The mercurial Hawks’ point guard had 20 points, six rebounds, two assists and five steals for the Hawks in their impressive 71-59 home win over the Cairns Taipans on Saturday.

New Gold Coast import Erron Maxey also received consideration after two games in Round Three. Maxey opened his NBL career with a 16-point, eight-rebound performance in his team’s 83-66 loss to Perth on Wednesday night. Against Perth on Saturday, Maxey scored 23 points and added 11 rebounds to show he will be a player to watch this season.

There were a plethora of strong performances in Round Three, and New Zealand’s CJ Bruton (32 points in a victory against Melbourne) and Perth’s Shawn Redhage (32 points in a win over Gold Coast) also staked their claims for the weekly honour.

Other leading contenders for the NBL Player of the Week in Round Three included Julien ‘Skip’ Mills (Cairns), Rick Rickert (New Zealand), Adam Ballinger (Adelaide), Luke Kendall (Melbourne).

NBL PLAYER OF THE WEEK 2009/10

Round 1 – CJ Bruton (New Zealand)

Round 2 – Rich Melzer (Cairns)

Round 3 – Corey Williams (Townsville)

The rest of NBL Round 3 Results/Match Reports

The following match reports have been provided by: nbl.com.au

Wildcats snuff out Blaze

October 09, 2009, 11:47 PM AEST

By: Sportal - Chris Pike

BOXSCORE

The Perth Wildcats overcame a determined Gold Coast Blaze 89-84 in their opening home match of the season at Challenge Stadium.

Both teams were coming off heavy losses in Cairns and were desperate to bounce back from 1-2 starts to the season, but in the end the Wildcats were able to just shake a Blaze team that would not go away.

Perth's loss to the Taipans was by 18 points the night after a thrilling win in Townsville and a week after a tight loss in Wollongong.

The Wildcats took to 'The Jungle' for the first time this season without the injured Paul Rogers and despite still showing signs of the teamwork not quite being what it could become, they did enough for the five-point win.

New skipper Shawn Redhage led the way with 32 points on 12-of-17 shooting including four from long range.

He had good support from Stephen Weigh with 13 points of which nine came from beyond the arc, with Jesse Wagstaff scoring 11 and Drew Williamson 10.

Gold Coast went down to Cairns by 17 on Wednesday and looked tired without injured pair Anthony Petrie and Ayinde Ubaka, but were a much better unit in Perth with new import Erron Maxey starting in just his second game since replacing Michael Joiner.

Maxey finished with 23 points and 10 boards in a supremely impressive performance in a sign of exciting things to come. Fellow import Ubaka scored 16 and Adam Gibson 10 with seven assists.

Pero Cameron, Greg Vanderjagt and Chris Goulding all added eight for the Blaze.

The Wildcats started well with Weigh enjoying his starting role early with eight points in the first five minutes as the 'Cats went up 14-9.

Gold Coast was playing hard, though, and with much more purpose than Wednesday in Cairns. With new import Maxey looking good in his first start and Vanderjagt doing well under the bucket, the Blaze remained within five after the first quarter.

Perth began the second period strongly with six quick points in a row to lead by nine, but only managed three more for the final six minutes as Gold Coast got moving despite Harvey sitting out after picking up his third foul.

Gibson hit eight points in the second term alone and helped Gold Coast tie the sores 37 at the main break.

The Blaze continued the momentum early in the third when Cameron nailed two straight threes and give his side its biggest lead of the game.

The Wildcats quickly hit back with three-pointers to Martin, Weigh and Redhage to regain the lead at 50-48. The Blaze took control again, though, and went back up by five when Harvey hit his first from long range.

The lead was then 59-52 when Maxey hit another jumper, but the 'Cats hit back with a pair from the stripe to Wagstaff and a three to Drew Williamson. Another bomb from Williamson and one to Redhage then saw Perth lead 63-59 at three quarter-time.

Perth quickly went out by eight early in the last quarter, but Gold Coast kept coming and Ubaka brought them within one with four minutes to go.

Redhage continued his big night hitting a crucial three to make the margin four and the 'Cats did enough for the win from there.

Gold Coast (1-3) returns home to host the Melbourne Tigers on Wednesday, while the Wildcats (2-2) remain home the next four weeks to play Adelaide, Melbourne, Wollongong and New Zealand.

Perth Wildcats 89 (Redhage 32, Weigh 13, Wagstaff 11)

Gold Coast Blaze 84 (Maxey 23, Ubaka 16, Gibson 10)

@ Challenge Stadium; 09/10/09. Crowd: 4,400.

Crocs too good for Tigers

October 10, 2009, 09:13 PM AEST

By: Sportal - Ronny Lerner

BOXSCORE

A second-quarter blitz from Townsville has provided the catalyst for an emphatic 103-68 victory over the Melbourne Tigers at the State Netball and Hockey Centre on Saturday night.

After a competitive first quarter, the Crocodiles busted the game wide open in the second, outscoring the Tigers 31-16 to take a whopping 54-31 lead at half-time and effectively ending the contest.

The Crocodiles had lost their previous two matches in heartbreaking fashion courtesy of buzzer-beating baskets and they vented their frustrations on the Tigers who headed into the match without key players Nathan Croswell and Tommy Greer as well as Chris Anstey, who isn't expected back by late December.

While Melbourne was a shadow of the side that beat and pushed title favourite New Zealand respectively in its opening two matches, it was a victim of its own terrible shooting and ended up with an unimpressive 34 percent efficiency from the field on a 24-of-70 clip.

Conversely the Crocs hit 54 percent from 34-of-63 shooting.

Townsville pair Corey Williams (19 points, six rebounds, seven assists) and Brad Williamson (20 points including 6-of-9 from three-point land) were the driving forces behind the comprehensive victory and they had valuable support from Russell Hinder (22 including 6-of-7 from beyond the arc, eight rebounds) and Cameron Tovey (16, six rebounds).

For Melbourne, Luke Kendall was the shining light (19, including five threes) and Mark Worthington chimed in with 10.

As brutally efficient as Townsville was offensively, amassing a brilliant 15-of-32 from outside the perimeter, it also owned the boards (49-33).

Melbourne was slow to get out of the blocks and Townsville exploited the Tigers' early sloppiness to shoot out to a 12-3 lead with Hinder and Williams both figuring prominently in this mini period of dominance.

But Melbourne guard Kendall sparked his team into action with five points in 99 seconds as the Tigers scored 11 of the next 13 points to level things up at 14-14.

However, this was as close as the Tigers would get as the Crocs responded with nine of the quarter's last 10 points to take an eight-point lead (23-15) at the first change - a monster three-pointer from Williamson the icing on an early yellow and green cake.

And Townsville, inspired alphabetically by Williams and Williamson, continued that trend in the second term as it careered away from a flat-footed Melbourne outfit to amass a match-winning 23-point lead at half-time.

The man they call 'Homicide' was unstoppable at the start of the term with eight points in the first 5:11 while Williamson proved a force to be reckoned with from beyond the perimeter with eight of his own - including two threes.

Kendall tried his best to stop the rot with three scores, two of which he drained from beyond the arc, but the Tigers weren't able to string together consecutive baskets for the entire period as Townsville outscored the hosts 31-16 in the second quarter.

The only way Williams looked like being stopped was after a tough blocking foul delivered by Worthington which drew blood from the superstar Croc early in the third quarter - but not even that could keep the brilliant import down.

The Crocs continued the pain for Melbourne in the second half, outscoring the hosts 49-37 to complete a memorable road victory against last year's grand finalist.

The Tigers (1-2) and the Crocodiles (2-2) both face the Blaze next.

Melbourne meets them on Wednesday night on the Gold Coast while Townsville hosts them on Friday night.

Melbourne Tigers 68 (Kendall 19, Worthington 10, Mackinnon 8)
Townsville Crocodiles 103 (Hinder 22, Williamson 20, Williams 19)
@ The State Netball and Hockey Centre, 10/10/2009. Crowd: 2,762

Hawks soar over Snakes

October 10, 2009, 09:17 PM AEST

By: Sportal - Asa Schuster

BOXSCORE

The Wollongong Hawks have escaped with gritty 71-59 victory over the Cairns Taipans at the WIN Entertainment Centre on Saturday.

In a grinding defensive battle, the Hawks prevailed behind a stirring 26-17 fourth-quarter performance.

Holding a three-point edge, Wollongong scored the first six points of the fourth to help dispel its recent final-quarter woes.

Tywain 'All-Day' McKee scored all of his 18 points (7-of-16 and five steals) in the last three quarters as he battled through a swarming press in the opening stages.

Glen Saville had 12 and seven rebounds and Cam Tragardh added 11 points, as the Hawks remained perfect at home.

Rich Melzer registered 14 points and 10 rebounds, and former Hawk Dusty Rychart had 10 points for the Taipans, who had their three-game winning-streak halted.

Ian Crosswhite (11 points) racked up a pair of fouls in the initial 19 seconds, with the Taipans setting the tone on defence, inducing four turnovers and limiting the Hawks to a lone field goal in the first three minutes.

McKee was greeted with an instant double-team each time he touched the ball and Cairns grabbed a brief 8-7 advantage.

Wollongong's bench made an immediate impact, Tim Coenraad featured during a handy 9-4 close to the period, including a ferocious tip-jam.

David Gruber and Rhys Martin also made vital contributions to push Wollongong in front 16-12.

Rychart's basket to open the second stanza was just the Taipans' second field-goal; he quickly followed with a trademark bucket after cleaning the offensive glass to lock the scores at 16-16.

Dwayne Vale's lay-up handed the visitors the lead and Rychart added two more to his tally, as the Hawks stood stagnant with only a free-throw to their credit after four minutes.

Wollongong finally found a field goal through Larry Davidson inside, sparking a handy 7-0 spurt as McKee finally began to find his swagger.

Cairns missed a pair of lay-ups on a fastbreak, but recovered when Phill Jones struck form long-range on their next trip down court to stop the bleeding.

McKee buried a pair of late threes to finish with eight points in the term, the Hawks holding a five-point buffer (31-26) at the half.

The Hawks maintained a six-point lead for much of the third, but the Taipans found life when Crosswhite spun his way to the hoop for a thunderous dunk.

Skip Mills and Melzer combined for five late points to pull within one point, before Gruber closed the door with a hook shot on the buzzer to have the home team up 45-42.

The Taipans pulled within four (52-56) on a three by Mills, but an immediate reply by McKee and Saville saw the deficit open back up to 11 (63-52).

The Taipans (3-2) next play at the Gold Coast on Friday October 23, while the Hawks (2-1) host the New Zealand Breakers next Saturday.

Wollongong Hawks 71 (McKee 18, Saville 12, Tragardh 11)
Cairns Taipans 59 (Melzer 14, Crosswhite 11, Rychart 10)
@ WIN Entertainment Centre, 10/10/2009. Crowd: 3,316.

Sixers hold off Crocs

October 09, 2009, 09:34 PM AEST

By: Sportal

BOXSCORE

A clutch basket to import John Gilchrist has earned the Adelaide 36ers a thrilling 90-89 victory over the Townsville Crocodiles at the Distinctive Homes Dome on Friday night.

After leading by 20 points late in a dominant second quarter, the Sixers fell in a hole, surrendering their advantage midway through the third.

It was anyone's game in the final term but Gilchrist came up with the final two buckets of the game - one with 25 seconds remaining and the second with 1.9 seconds left on the clock - to get his side across the line.

The match-winner smashed into the ring but luckily fell for the home side.

Peter Crawford got a shot away in the brief restart but his attempt fell short of the hoop.

Adam Ballinger led from the front in the fourth quarter and doubled his points tally to finish with 24, Gilchrist collected 21 points while Darren Ng was on fire in the second term and finished with 17 points.

Townsville showed character to outscore the home side 51-34 in the second half and would've been rueing its slow start.

Corey Williams, who almost registered a triple-double, got his side back into the contest after the break with 32 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, Rolan Roberts was influential in the tight fourth quarter and finished with 22 points and Russell Hinder was next best with 14 points.

The match began with an even first quarter as Townsville opened up mini-breaks before Adelaide hit back.

The Sixers were showing some promising form but it took the home side until the final minute to arrest the ascendancy away from the visitors. Ng sunk his first three pointer, David Cooper swatted a ball clear of the Crocs' hoop before Jacob Holmes scored just before the buzzer to deliver his side a 24-20 lead.

Adelaide had all the momentum in the second term with Ng continuing his scintillating form outside the arc.

He scored 11 of his team's first 14 points (featuring a hat-trick of three pointers) and in an instant the Sixers were out to a 16-point buffer.

It took the Crocs more than four-and-a-half minutes to register their first points from the field - a Cameron Tovey lay-up - and the drought-breaker prompted Townsville coach Trevor Gleeson to call time-out.

The break in play did temporarily stop the haemorrhaging, with Williams enjoying some time in the key, but the Sixers were unrelenting.

Gilchrist showed some slick dribbling and sharp passing while he and his team-mates maintained a perfect record from the stripe.

In contrast, Townsville dropped just four out of 10 from the line and were playing with little confidence.

Stephen Hoare got the important final bucket of the quarter but the Sixers still held a commanding 56-38 lead at half-time.

Townsville staged an amazing turnaround in the second half with Williams single-handedly leading the rapid fight back.

He scored 14 effortless points, featuring lay-ups and jump shots, and left the Distinctive Homes Dome crowd stunned.

Crawford sunk a long bomb midway through the period to give the Crocs an unlikely lead.

Adelaide's radar had gone haywire with the home side shooting at just 22 percent from the field.

But a solo effort and then a last-gasp lay-up from Cortez Groves at least brought the scores level - 67 a piece - at three-quarter time.

It was a real slug fest in the fourth quarter before a Russell Hinder three, a Rolan Roberts ally-oop and another Williams bucket in quick succession gave the visitors the edge once more.

But Ballinger then Gilchrist stood up to deliver some telling baskets and the crowd urged their heroes home.

Adelaide now holds a 2-1 record and heads to Perth next week to tackle the Wildcats while Townsville (1-2) plays the Tigers in Melbourne on Saturday night.

Adelaide 36ers 90 (Ballinger 24, Gilchrist 21, Ng 17)

Townsville Crocodiles 89 (Williams 32, Roberts 22, Hinder 14)

@ Distinctive Homes Dome 9/10/09 Attendance 4,759

WNBL Round 2 Report

The match of the week for this round was at Townsville on Saturday night.

Following on from Friday nights narrow win at Logan, the Capitals ran out of steam down the stretch in the tropical north. Tracey Beatty was back to her dominant best for the champs with 20 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks but Amy Lewis led a mid final quarter surge with two big three pointers for the Fire who trimmed a 78-69 Canberra advantage to a single point with three minutes left on the clock.

The action was furious over the last three minutes until Rachael Flanagan calmly sank two free throws to give the Fire a winning edge. Townsville withstood two final last gasp attempts from Canberra for the final 79-78 margin.

Here are press reports of the rest of Round 2 from: wnbl.com.au.

Adelaide shines at the Dome

10.10.09

A composed Adelaide side outlasted Bendigo in a tough contest, the Lightning’s depth giving them the edge 76-62 in Adelaide on Saturday.

A game high 28 points from Kristi Harrower was not enough to give Bendigo the win. Sam Woosnam and Angela Marino posted 18 points apiece to lead Adelaide.

Harrower was disappointed to lose but said Bendigo will only get better.

“Last year was exactly the same, we didn’t start great and then we went on a seven-game winning streak,” Harrower said.

It was a polished start to the game as both teams executed well with few defensive stops in the opening quarter. Bendigo matched Adelaide’s high tempo but the home team managed to nail several 3-pointers and established a six point lead before Bendigo coach Bernie Harrower called a time out with two minutes remaining.

A buzzer-beater from Lauren King kept Bendigo in touch 19-25 at the first break.

Bendigo’s luck started to dry up as they struggled to find the basket from outside and Adelaide picked up the dropped shots to convert at their own end. At halftime the Spirit was shooting at just 30 per cent from the field while Lightning was faring much better with 59 per cent to lead 47-32 at halftime.

The Spirit fired up in the third quarter, scoring the last nine points of the term to stay in touch, Adelaide led by only ten points at the final break, 62-52.

Kristi Harrower’s individual play kept Bendigo within nine points but needed a bigger contribution to come from the Spirits other players who could not find the basket in the closing minutes. Adelaide was patient and with Foley directing traffic they pushed the lead out to take the win by 14 points.

[Box Score]

ADELAIDE LIGHTNING 76 (Samantha Woosnam 18, Angela Marino 18, Jess Foley 16) bt
BENDIGO SPIRIT 62 (Kristi Harrower 28, Lauren King 16, Jasmine Finnigan 8)

Boomers Outmuscle AIS

10.10.09

The Global Metals Bulleen Boomers have outmuscled a young AIS team to score a resounding 110 - 40 win at the Veneto Club on Saturday night.

The Global Metals Bulleen Boomers registered their second win of the season on Saturday, with a resounding 110-40 victory over the young AIS squad.

Playing in front of a packed Veneto Club it was former AIS player Liz Cambage who wreaked havoc on the visiting team, registering 31 points (including 14 of 15 free throws) for her new club the Boomers.

The Bulleen supporters were out in force, eager to catch a glimpse of their new look side in person.

“There was a big buzz around the place, probably other than finals I can’t ever remember the stands being full before we even start our warm ups”, said Co-Captain Sharin Milner “Looking around there is plenty of blue and gold".

Bulleen started the game with a great post feed to Liz Cambage for the basket, an ominous start for the visitors, who were playing on the road for their third straight game. The pressure from the Boomers was unrelenting for the entire first quarter, culminating in a 32-10 scoring term.

Cambage could sympathise with the AIS players, who were never really a threat on the scoreboard, acknowledging how tough it is for them.

“But they played so hard”, said Cambage “They don’t stop, so you’ve got to respect them for that".

The WNBL player of the week for Round One Bulleen’s Elyse Penaluna was hamstrung with early fouls, but the steady play of Sharin Milner (11 points) helped keep the Boomers focused on the task, as they extended their lead to 58-14 at the half.

“Tom set the challenge for us early in the week about not taking them lightly, and making sure we played every possession, and I thought we did that", said Milner.

“A key factor in that was the crowd involvement, and everyone seemed to be really engaged from the tip off right until the end, so we’re really pleased with that effort."

The third term started in almost identical fashion to the first, with a three point play on the first possession by Cambage, the first of her 12 points for the quarter, which included a three point bomb from long range. A positive for the AIS was them being able to double their scoring output from the first half in the third quarter, outscored 31-14 for the term.

The final term saw Bulleen begin to rest their starting players, but the pain did not end there. The gallant AIS were hit with wave after wave of young Boomers, relishing their game time opportunity to impress in front of the big crowd.

“It was fantastic for them to see some decent minutes, not just right at the end of the game; they all got in there and amongst it and contributed” said Milner.

[Box Score]

Bulleen Boomers 110 (Elizabeth Cambage 31, Hanna Zavecz 15, Rachel Jarry 14) bt
AIS 40 (Alice Kunek 8, Nadeen Payne 7, Madeline Taylor 7)

By: Ryan Mobilia, Boomers Media

The Flames bring it home in Sydney

10.10.09

After a first round loss the ACUVUE Sydney Uni Flames did not disappoint in Round 2 at their home court on Saturday.

The formidable lineup downed the Dandenong Jayco Rangers 73-62 in Sydney.

Opal Suzy Batkovic-Brown once again led the Flames wih 23 points and 11 rebounds, Eva Afeaki also added a double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. AIS graduate Stephanie Cumming scored a team high 16 points for Dandenong.

The Flames grabbed a five point lead at the first break, 18-13, but the Rangers, still searching for their first win, fought back in the second and Sydney Uni only held a 33-30 advantage at halftime.

A buzzer-beating three from Deanne Butler at three-quarter time pushed the margin back out to seven points and the Flames held on for their first win.

While both teams shot at 37 per cent from the field Sydney Uni grabbed the advantage with their strength in the post, out-rebounding the Rangers 55-28.

Next week will be the first true test of the Sydney lineup as they face the much-hyped Bulleen Boomers who are yet to lose, in the ABC TV Game of the Week played on Friday night with a replay broadcast on ABC1 from 1.00pm AEDT Saturday.

The Rangers will hope to notch up their first win of the season when they host Logan next Saturday.

[Box Score]

SYDNEY UNI FLAMES 73 (Suzy Batkovic-Brown 23, Eva Afeaki 12, Deanne Butler 11) bt
DANDENONG RANGERS 65 (Stephanie Cumming 16, Caitlin Ryan 15, Casey Nash 10, Megan Moody 10)

Harrowing defeat for Lynx + video

11.10.09

The Perth Lynx have suffered a demoralising defeat at the hands of the Bendigo Spirit in their round 2 clash at Perry Lakes Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

It was the Spirit’s second win of the season and a big one at that - 85 to 58.

And in a mirror image of Perth’s opening game against Sydney 8 days ago, the home side’s poor first term again set the tone for what was a forgettable afternoon for the Lynx.

The writing was on the wall very early when the Spirit, led valiantly by Kristi Harrower with 27 points, 6 assists and 6 rebounds, broke out to a 11 point lead after just several minutes of play.

Turnovers, missed easy baskets and a lack of spark on the court from the home side was punished by the visiting Spirit, as they raced to a 19 point first term advantage, 25-6 at the first break.

The Lynx did manage to find some rhythm in the second period, at one stage pegging the advantage back to under 10 points for a brief moment thanks to some fancy shooting from Kate Malpass from long range, but all their good work again became undone in the third quarter.

Having closed the gap to 39-24 at half time, the Lynx again fell into a slump.

Perth seemingly had no answer to Bendigo’s barrage as Harrower continued to put on a basketball clique. The Australia Opal could do no wrong, landing the shots from inside the key and from well beyond range, she was even lethal from the charity stripe making 10 from 11 attempts.

Lynx coach Joe McKay made several changes in an attempt to ignite his side with Rebecca Mercer and Ashley Gilmore adding some spark to the home side’s charge.

But someone appeared to have greased the ball with Perth giving up easy turnovers and gifting the Spirit 13 points on the transition.

By three quarter time the game was all but done, the visitors outscoring their opponents by 10 points to head into the final term with a very handy 25 point advantage.

With the game finally tightening up in the fourth term, the Lynx managed to keep the Spirit’s advantage under 30 points after it had threatened to go far beyond that earlier, a 27 point win.

[Box Score]

BENDIGO SPIRIT 85 (Kristi Harrower 27, Lauren King 17, Chelsea Aubry 16) bt
PERTH LYNX 58 (Kate Malpass 15, Ashley Gilmore 12, Danielle Campbell 11)
At Perry Lakes Stadium, Perth

To see LMSC's video highlights from the game and interviews with both coaches click on the video link below.

Story courtesy of www.lmsc.com.au for more details from the game click here

Inaugural ASEAN Basketball League kicks off

Satria Muda BritAma 67 – 75 Philippine Patriots

Saturday, 10 October 2009, Jakarta – Today saw the inaugural match of the ASEAN Basketball League take place at the BritAma Arena in Jakarta as Satria Muda BritAma went up against Philippine Patriots in a very close match.

In a hard fought game that went down the wire the visiting Patriots edged Satria Muda 75 to 67. American Brandon Powell top scored for the Patriots with 18 points while Faisal Achmad Julius led the Satria Muda assault with 16 points.

The exciting game was shown regionally over ESPN and was played in front of a crowd of about 3,000 raucous fans.

Dato Sri Tony Fernandes, Chairman of the ABL as well as Group Chief Executive Officer of regional airline Air Asia was looking forward to today – “Today is a great day for basketball in the ASEAN region as we see the ASEAN Basketball League come to life with two basketball giants going up against each other.”

“It was a great exciting game that also delivered on the entertainment front. It has been a great journey here and after a year of preparation this a fantastic start to our fledgling league that we hope will grow into the future of sports and entertainment in the region.