Women's Qualifying Final
West Adelaide Bearcats v Norwood Flames
Saturday July 21, 2007, 6:30pm at Port Adelaide

	West Adelaide Bearcats	Norwood Flames
Minor Round Record	2nd - 12 wins and 4 losses	3rd - 11 wins and 5 losses
Head Coach	John Gillies	Damian Weeks
Likely Starters	Jess Mahony Cherie Smith Lauren King Kate Jenner Sam Woosnam	Nicole Romeo Lisa Scaglia Jess Foley Carly Stark Emily Fryters
Top Scorer	Lauren King - 15 ppg	Jess Foley - 16.5 ppg
Top Rebounder	Sam Woosnam - 9.1 ppg	Emily Fryters - 12.2 rpg
Top Assists	Sam Woosnam - 3.6 apg	Nicole Romeo - 2.4 ppg
Head to head	1/4/2007         West Adelaide 85 d Norwood 46 16/6/2007      Norwood 75 d West Adelaide 67

After round four of the Central ABL season, Norwood coach Damian Weeks may well have been regretting his decision to transition from junior to senior coaching. His team started with losses to Sturt by 16, South by 26 and West by 41. He was coaching an inexperienced group which had lost WNBL stars Natalie Hurst and Kellie Abrams and any success in 2007 looked unlikely.

How quickly things can change. With no height, Norwood had no option but to employ a fast-paced up-the-court style of play, and it paid dividends. Emily Fryters held the team together on the boards and progressively increased her scoring output to the point where she has averaged a double double in the second half of the season. Nicole Romeo and Carly Stark both provided a spark from beyond the 3 point arc. They kick-started the Flames run in round 5 with 11 3 pointers between them and by the time Jess Foley played her first game in round 8, the Flames were already hot.

With the group that West Adelaide had assembled in 2007, expectations were always going to be high. Former Australian junior team member Jess Mahony returned from a knee injury, Lightning recruit Lauren King joined the team, and fellow WNBL players Cherie Smith and Sam Woosnam also returned. With a limited pre-season together (ie none), their start was always going to be disjointed, and after an 0 and 2 start in a shortened season, the pressure was mounting.

It was a game against the Flames which provided the turnaround - a 41 point drubbing made it clear that West would be a force not just on paper, and other than dropping consecutive games to Sturt and Norwood mid-season, West have done everything necessary to earn their double chance and home court advantage.

Norwood will throw everything at West defensively. The West backcourt will most likely experience full court pressure from the tip-off and Norwood's shooters have the ability to change a game in minutes. Despite this, one would think that West's experience should give it a slight edge, especially in a finals situation, and at home.