Week 2 Semi-Final Women's SBL Wrap
THE Orange Autos Rockingham Flames and Lakeside Lightning have been the two standout women's SBL teams all season long and both qualified for the 2014 grand final with Game 2 semi-final victories on Friday night.
The two women's semi-final Game 2 matches on Friday night saw the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames beat the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 84-64 at Mike Barnett Sports Complex with the Lakeside Lightning also defeating the Joondalup Wolves 79-66 at Lakeside Recreation Centre.
That means that both last year's grand finalists in the women's SBL have been bundled out in two games in the semi finals while the two standout teams from all of 2014 will now meet in Friday night's grand final at the WA Basketball Centre.
The Flames lost just two games throughout all of the regular season and now are into the grand final without dropping a game in the playoffs following Friday's 20-point win over last year's runner-up Kalamunda.
The Eastern Suns went into half-time with a three-point advantage, but the Flames turned it on in the second half scoring 47 points and keeping the Suns to just 24 to score the victory.
The Lightning finished the regular season on a nine-game winning streak and they have now stretched that to 13 having won all four playoff encounters to win through to the grand final.
The Lakeside set up their Game 2 victory at home on Friday night with a 24-point to 10 second period and then cruised to the 13-point victory to remain unbeaten at the Lakeside Recreation Centre right throughout 2014.
There were again some outstanding individual performances from the best four teams of 2014 – this year's grand finalists and last year's two teams who played off in the championship decider.
Samantha Whitcomb again led the way for the Flames with 24 points, 15 rebounds, nine assists and three steals while Darcee Garbin was also terrific offensively with 23 points.
Talisia Bourne contributed 14 points off the bench while shooting a tremendous 3-of-5 from three-point territory.
Jacinta Bourne also added seven points and 12 rebounds with Tarsha Fletcher finishing with nine points, five rebounds and four assists.
Alison Schwagmeyer, Chelsea Armstrong and Jennie Rintala all scored 10 points each for the Suns while pulling in a combined 17 rebounds.
Melissa Moyle contributed seven points and seven rebounds while Jessie Edwards added seven points and seven boards, and Sarah-Jane Knox finished with eight points and seven rebounds.
Kari Pickens was once again outstanding for the Lightning on Friday night with 32 points, 13 rebounds and five assists while shooting 14-of-24 from the field.
Krystal Stoneking also added 18 points and 10 rebounds for Lakeside while Courtney Byrnes contributed 12 points, seven boards and three assists. Courtney Bayliss added 10 points and four rebounds off the bench as well.
Shani Amos did all she could for the Wolves finishing with 21 points, six assists and four steals with Megan Lee finishing with 10 points.
FRIDAY WOMEN'S SEMI-FINAL GAME 2 SBL MATCHES
Lakeside Lightning 79 defeated Joondalup Wolves 66
Orange Autos Rockingham Flames 84 defeated Kalamunda Eastern Suns 64
Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Serene Elise Photography
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