Women's First Semi Final Preview



Sturt Sabres (15-3, 2nd) v Forestville Eagles (12-6, 4th)

Both the Sturt Sabres and Forestville Eagles will be hoping for a better performance than they put in last weekend when they go head-to-head at Pasadena on Saturday.

After losing just three times in the regular season, the Sabres only managed 51 points against West and went down by eight, repeating their failure of last year’s Qualifying Final.

In the absence of Tess Madgen and Monique Bowley, who collectively average over 36 points, 16 rebounds and 6 assists, Sturt had nothing going offensively, shooting only 27 per cent from the field.

Despite their offensive issues, the Sabres’ defence was good enough to see them fight their way to the front with only a quarter remaining.

However, Sturt lost the momentum in the fourth and the game slipped away.

Nicole Seekamp was the best for the Sabres with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists, but her scoring output was well below her season average of 16.7.

Isabelle Daniel had a team-high 12 points, but shot only 2/14 from the field.

Caroline Burgess was excellent on the boards, pulling down 12 of them, but struggled offensively with just 2 points on 1/8 shooting.

Suddenly, the Sabres will be out of the competition if they go down this week.

The Eagles can consider themselves lucky to have made it through to the semis, after an unconvincing 54-51 victory over Centrals in the Elimination Final.

Forestville trailed by double figures for most of the game and was still down 11 heading into the fourth, but turned the game on its head by scoring 18 of the final 22 points.

Georgia Minear (13 points, 13 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks) had an excellent all-round fourth quarter, Carla Borrego (21 points, 14 rebounds) scored some big hoops, and Jasmine Trimboli (5 points) showed the poise of a much older player by knocking down a couple of massive jumpers, including a go-ahead three with under two minutes remaining.

Jess Fergus and Jamie-Lee Bow were also very good in the fourth, particularly at the defensive end.

Monica Bello went down in the third with what appeared to be a serious calf injury and did not return.

Despite last week’s uncharacteristic efforts, these teams have both been in very good form overall.

The Sabres have won seven out of nine, while the Eagles have won nine out of ten.

Sturt is the only team to defeat Forestville in the second half of the season.

Playing big finals is nothing new to these two clubs, with eight premierships and four losing Grand Finals between them in the past 10 years.

Sturt and Forestville recently met in the 2009 Grand Final, with the underdog Eagles winning 74-49.

Last year, the Eagles again eliminated the Sabres, holding them to 41 points and winning by 12.

This season, however, Sturt has had the upper hand on Forestville, albeit not by much.

The Sabres won the Round 4 meeting 67-60, before completing the double in Round 14 with a 73-68 triumph.

The personnel available to each team will likely have a large bearing on the result.

Ultimately, luck appears to be more on the Eagles’ side right now and this may just see them advance to the Preliminary Final.

By James Woite




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