(Includes Round 7 results when the teams last played)

Central Districts Lions v Forestville Eagles, Sat, July 10th, 6.30pm at Starplex
Forestville 102 (Jamie-Lee Bow 32, Mia Newley 19, Jess Fergus 16) defeated
Centrals 50 (Amber Land 11, Fiona Perso 9, Maryanne Eime, Dayna Roberts 8)

With top playing bottom it doesn't get any easier for the Lions at home. Coach Winston Folland would have been happy with his charges' first half performance against the Mavericks where the Lions led for the majority of the first quarter and they were still in the game at halftime. In the third quarter the Lions' scoring slowed to a trickle as they were overrun 23-3. A repeat of that performance will see the Eagles post a record score. In what was expected to be the match of the round the Sabres were no match for Forestville. Forestville's Tara Buttress finished the game high scorer with 18 points, her best score for the season. The Eagles won that match with only seven players available with both Mia Newley and Jess Mahony seeing 40 minutes of court time. Even if Forestville are not at full strength for this match (they were missing Katherine Harrison, Emily Sims and Kelsey Ireland last round), they are expected to have little resistance in claiming the points and retaining top position.

Eastern Mavericks v South Adelaide Panthers, Sat, July 10th, 6.30pm at Mount Barker
South 78 (Claire Johnson 27, Sarah Peddle 13, Taya Crockford 9) defeated
Eastern 63 (Tess Madgen 35, Lauren Wright 8, Jo Robbertsen 5)

With both clubs on five wins and having won one game out of the last six played this should be a closely fought contest. The Mavericks needed a halftime ‘rev up' to produce the result against the Lions and South had a quiet first half in their loss against the Tigers last Saturday night. Rachael Litster has been in good form for the Panthers this season and will want to have another good performance against her old club. The numbers that Claire Johnson for the Panthers and Tess Madgen for Eastern produce will have a big bearing on the outcome. When the sides met in Round 7 at Marion, South held a 3 point margin at three quarter time 57-54 but outplayed the Mavericks to score 21-9 in the last term to win by 15 points, 78-63. Eastern will be keen to reverse that result at Mount Barker but South will be keen to make it a double loss for the Mavericks.

Southern Tigers v Norwood Flames, Sat, July 10th, 6.30pm at Morphett Vale           Norwood 93 (Jess Foley 27, Kate Shierlaw 13, Rebecca Duke 12, Jess Smart 10) defeated
Southern 65 (Alexandra Ciabattoni 17, Ashleigh Spencer 13, Gilly Hendrie 12)

This match looms as a mini final for both teams with the Tigers fighting for an all important finals berth, and currently locked in a two-way battle with North for 5th position. Should Norwood lose this encounter they will drop back into a three-way battle for either 4th or 5th position with both clubs. Last time the sides met, Norwood were comprehensive victors thumping the Tigers in the first quarter 33-10. A lot has changed since that round and Norwood will be without the services of two of their leading scorers. The Tigers form under Coach Willie Jenette has improved significantly with the team winning 7 out of their last 8 matches played. Norwood struggled to post a winning score against the Rockets last round with only Rachel Herrick and Amanda Williams in double figures. Southern had an even team performance in their win against the Panthers led by Ashleigh Spencer with 22 points. They have won their last 4 matches at home; will Norwood halt that run?

West Adelaide Bearcats v Sturt Sabres, Sat, July 10th, 6.30pm at Port Adelaide
Sturt 50 (Caroline Burgess 15, Monique Bowley 10, Bree Farley 7) defeated
West  46 (Kerrin Webber 15, Nikita-Lee Martin 14, Trudy Holland 8)

With 2nd playing 3rd, many would see this as the match of the round. With Bearcats players Sam Woosnam, Nikita-Lee Martin and Trudy Holland matched against the Sabres' best in Monique Bowley, Caroline Burgess (if she plays - she missed last week) and Bree Farley, the contest is expected to be a high standard affair. Without Burgess the Sabres produced their lowest score of the season (42 points). They were gone against the Eagles at halftime when they fell behind by 15 points in a low scoring game. West set up their win against the Warriors by winning every quarter.  Martin finished with 27 points and 10 rebounds and Woosnam compiled 13 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists. Both sides will look for an improvement from their outside shooters this match.  Last time they met, the Bearcats were 1/14 from 3 point territory and the Sabres were slightly better with 6/20. Last round West were 3/13 against Woodville and Sturt were 2/13 against Forestville. Both Clubs would look to improve those numbers this game. West would be favoured at home.

North Adelaide Rockets v Woodville Warriors, Sat, July 10th, 8.15pm at Hillcrest
Woodville 74 (Claire Christie 23, Ingrid Richards 13, Jodie Barratt 10) defeated
North 57 (Jo Hill 14, Shannon McKay, Marisa Stabile 8)

North enter this match at home with three wins in succession recorded against Centrals, South and Norwood. For Woodville they enter the match having lost their last three to Norwood, Sturt and West Adelaide who are all set to meet in the finals. North had an even team performance last round with Bec Lock, Tayla Corbell, Marisa Stabile and Tania Dhu all in double figures in their win against Norwood. Woodville struggled offensively with a poor shooting night taking more shots than West Adelaide but finished with Ingrid Richards, Claire Christie and Ashleigh White as their top three scorers.  North needs to keep its winning form intact if it wants to contest the finals. A loss to Woodville will seriously damage those aspirations and keep the door open for the Southern Tigers who are breathing down their necks for a finals berth.