Women's Qualifying Final Preview - Sturt v West Adelaide
(Includes Round 7 & 16 results when the Teams last played)
Sturt v West Adelaide, Sat, July 31st, 6.30pm at Pasadena
R 7: Sturt 50 (Burgess 15, M Bowley 10) def West 46 (K Webber 15, N Martin 14)
R 16: West 59 (Woosnam 16, Martin, Vordemaier 12) def Sturt 50 (M Bowley 16, Farley 11)
When the sides first met in Round 7 the Bearcats won the first half narrowly 26-22 in a low scoring game. The turnaround came in the second half when Sturt increased their output marginally to post 28 points whilst holding West to 20 points in the second half. At that point of the season Sturt were on a roll winning their first 9 games. West started the season with 5 wins from their first 7 matches only dropping this match and the game against Forestville in Round 2.
In the return match at Port Adelaide later in the season West set up the 9 point victory (59-50) by narrowly winning the last three quarters of the contest. At the end of the first term scores were level 15-15. By halftime West had edged clear by 2 points 26-24. By the end of the third West held a 5 point buffer 42-37. In the last term the teams traded baskets with West able to stay in front to record the win.
Both teams have a reliance on a core group of players to post a winning score. The Sabres have Bree Farley (10.6ppg, 4.6rpg), Caroline Burgess (12.3ppg, 7.6rpg), Monique Bowley (14.8ppg, 10.4 rpg) and Hannah Richards (6.3ppg, 2.8rpg) as their leading scorers. For the Bearcats, Nikita-Lee Martin (18.6ppg, 8.4rpg) leads the way with Sam Woosnam (15.2ppg, 9.1rpg), Trudy Holland (9.2ppg, 8.4rpg) and Irene Sourlatzis (9.9ppg, 3.2rpg) as their main scorers. Sourlatzis missed the last round along with Meg McLeod and Lisa Coleman.
In season 2009 both clubs qualified for finals with Sturt losing the Grand Final and West losing the Preliminary Final. West and Sturt have been amongst the leaders all season with the Sabres recording 14 wins and the Bearcats 13 wins.
Little separates the two sides on paper with both teams having a mix of WNBL experienced players. West’s form looks a little stronger over recent weeks winning their past 5 matches. Sturt however, with the absence of a couple of key players over recent games has struggled to be as dominant as they were in the first half of the season. For those reasons, West may start this match as slight favourites to win their way through to face Forestville in the second semi-final.
Last Modified on 31/07/2010 11:06
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