By James Woite

 

With a win over the Panthers in the Women's Preliminary Final at Hillcrest, the Rockets would be the first club to win both the Qualifying and Preliminary Finals in the same season since 2008.

The Rockets side of 2008, which lost in the Grand Final, defeated Forestville in the Qualifying Final as well as Norwood in the Preliminary Final. The Rockets also played the Panthers in this year’s Qualifying Final.

The last time the same two sides met in the Qualifying and Preliminary Finals was 2013, where the Rockets were again involved, along with Sturt. Sturt won the Qualifying Final at Pasadena, but the Rockets rebounded two weeks later with a victory at the same venue.

The Rockets require two more wins to successfully defend their 2014 Premiership. They have played in the last three Grand Finals.

Last week, the Rockets struggled against Norwood, falling 48-68 in the Second Semi Final. Jo Hill had 12 points and 10 rebounds. The Rockets found it difficult to get the ball inside, and missed a lot of jump shots late in the shot clock.

The Panthers were down 13 points during the second quarter of their First Semi Final with West, but fought back to win 76-64. Ieva Nagy finished with 21 points and 8 rebounds.

The Panthers outscored West 51-33 in the second half. It was a big turnaround from when they were outscored 32-45 in the final two quarters against the Rockets the week before.

In the Qualifying Final, the Rockets had a dozen more rebounds and free throw makes as they defeated the Panthers 80-67. Hill collected 21 points and 8 rebounds for the Rockets. Jessica Mahony had 14 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists for the Panthers.

Rebounding has been a major problem for the Panthers all season against the Rockets. They have been outrebounded by a margin of 37 over four meetings. The Rockets are 3-1 against the Panthers this year.

In the previous three seasons where the Panthers have made the finals (2014, 2009, 2007), the Rockets have eliminated them each time.