THE most tantalising Women's SBL quarter-final match up always appeared between Mandurah Magic and Perry Lakes Hawks and now that will be decided in a Game 3 after the Rockingham Flames and Willetton Tigers won on Friday night as well to set up a grand final rematch.

The Flames and Tigers will now meet in the semi finals of 2016 after doing battle in the 2015 Women's SBL grand final after the two teams eliminated the Perth Redbacks and Lakeside Lightning respectively on Friday night.

The two-time defending champion Orange Autos Rockingham Flames defeated the Texture WA Perth Redbacks 77-56 at Belmont Oasis Leisure Centre while the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers downed the Lakeside Lightning 78-66 at Lakeside Recreation Centre.

Both grand finalists from last year won their quarter-final contests in two games.

Defending champions end season for Redbacks Men and Women

The one quarter-final match up now to be decided on Game 3 will do so after the Mandurah Magic defeated the Perry Lakes Hawks 73-65 at Mike Barnett Sports Complex on Saturday night.

Game 3 will now take place on Saturday night at Bendat Basketball Centre with tip-off set for 7pm.

Starting on Friday night at Belmont Oasis, Sami Whitcomb caught fire early for the defending champion Flames and nailed 18 first quarter points and from there Rockingham was never seriously threatened by Perth.

Despite Whitcomb's dominance, the Flames only led by five points at quarter-time but that stretched by 16 by half-time and then 21 by the final buzzer as they advanced to another semi-final series while the Redbacks' greatly improved season came to an end.

The Flames ended up shooting 28-of-66 for the game at 42 per cent and 6-of-25 from three at 24 per cent, but Whitcomb hit all six of those triples with the rest of the team going 0-of-12. Perth shot just 21-of-74 from the floor at 28 per cent and 5-of-19 from three at 26 per cent.

Rockingham dominated the boards with 52 rebounds to 36 as the Redbacks missed the hustle, presence and production of Ashley Gilmore.

Whitcomb hit 18 first quarter points, including two threes in the final 30 seconds and four overall for the period on her way to 34 points for the night to go with 11 rebounds, five assists and two blocks. She ended up shooting 13-of-24 from the field and 6-of-13 from downtown.

Darcee Garbin also had a strong game inside for Rockingham with 14 points and 14 rebounds with Ashlee Sidebottom contributing 12 points and three boards, and Ifunanya Ibekwe 11 points and six rebounds.

Jess Jakens battled hard for the Redbacks inside ending the night with 17 points and eight rebounds with Rebecca Benson contributing 17 points as well.

Gabby O'Sullivan added eight points and seven rebounds for Perth and Lisa Wallbutton six points and 10 boards.

Then at Lakeside Recreation Centre, the Lightning had a big job to do to turn around the 43-point loss from last Friday on the back of being outscored by 39 points after half-time by the Tigers but they did put in a much more competitive showing for four quarters on their home floor.

Despite Willetton opening up a 37-30 half-time lead, Lakeside made a real game of it in the third quarter with 23 points to 18 to close the deficit to two points. But the Tigers pulled away in the fourth period to end up winning by 12 to eliminate the Lightning and advance to the semi finals.

The Tigers ended up shooting 45 per cent from the field compared to 34 per cent by the Lightning while Willetton pulled in 40 rebounds to 34. But this time it was Lakeside scoring 34 points in the paint to 28.

Louella Tomlinson and Zoe Harper might have been the stars for Willetton last Friday, but this time it was Desiree Kelley the standout with 25 points, four rebounds and three steals on shooting 11-of-17 from the floor, and 3-of-6 from deep.

Kate Malpass added 18 points and eight assists for the Tigers while Ebony Antonio finished with 11 points and seven rebounds, Harper 10 points and six boards, and Tomlinson six points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and five blocked shots.

Alison Schwagmeyer top-scored for the Lightning with 19 points and seven rebounds with Devanny King contributing 15 points and 10 boards, Jess van Schie 11 points and Ashleigh Grant eight points and seven rebounds.

And at Mike Barnett Sports Complex, the Magic and Hawks played out another thriller in the battle of fifth against fourth from the end of the regular season.

Perry Lakes managed to win Game 1 by two points on its home court and now with Mandurah playing at its adopted home in Rockingham for 2016, the Magic managed to come from behind to win and set up the deciding Game 3.

It was a rollercoaster affair with the Magic leading by three points at the end of the first quarter and then leading 40-31 at half-time.

The Hawks came out inspired in the third quarter, though, with 26 points to 12 to lead 57-52 but it was all the Magic in the fourth period with 21 points to eight to end up winning by eight points.

The Magic ended up shooting 29-of-63 from the floor at 46 per cent with the Hawks going 24-of-64 at 37 per cent while Mandurah dominated the glass with 38 rebounds to 22 including 10 on the offensive end.

The Magic needed to give more help to Casey Mihovilovich after last week and that certainly happened with Rachel Halleen coming up huge with 19 points, four rebounds, three blocks and two assists.

Mihovilovich still played strongly as well finishing with 14 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two blocked shots.

Adijat Adams added 11 points, Annette Davis 10 points, five rebounds and four assists, Bree Klasztorny nine points, five boards and three blocks, and Emma Klasztorny eight points and 12 rebounds.

Kate Anthony top-scored for the Hawks with 15 points while Deanna Smith had 12 points, seven rebounds and three assists attempting just the 10 shots and making three.

Sarah Donovan contributed 12 points as well for Perry Lakes, Antonia Edmondson nine points, and Lauren Jeffers nine points to go with four rebounds, four steals and three assists.

WOMEN'S QUARTER FINAL GAME 2 MATCHES
Texture WA Perth Redbacks 56 lost to Orange Autos Rockingham Flames 77
Lakeside Lightning 66 lost to Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 78
Mandurah Magic 73 defeated Perry Lakes Hawks 65

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Sebpix Photography