By David Tonks

(Loser Qualifying Final v Winner Elimination Final)
(Includes Round 2 & 10 results when the Teams last played)

Sturt v Southern, Sat, August 7th, 7.30pm at Pasadena
R 2: Sturt 55 (Sidebottom, Hargreaves 13, Farley 11) def Southern 51 (Gates 11, Jennings 9)
R 10: Southern 59 (Jennings 20, Cunningham 16) def Sturt 56 (Burgess 12, Richards 10)

In this knock out semi final Sturt faces an improving Southern Tigers outfit that eliminated the Norwood Flames last week at Mars. Southern's Rosalie Cutri leading all scorers with 18 points and not far behind was Robyn Jennings on 17 points and Madelaine Cunningham with 15 points.

Sturt were up against West Adelaide at home and fell just short in that match losing 62-66. Sabres centre Monique Bowley led all scorers with 22 points. Sturt struggled offensively with only Bowley in double figures.

In the two clashes this season between the Sabres and the Tigers, Sturt were successful on the first occasion by only 4 points in a very low scoring affair. In the first half Sturt only recorded 18 points and Southern 17 points. Both sides scored freely in the third quarter before the game again became bogged down in the last. The Sabres finished with three players in double figures and Southern had only Stephanie Gates in that category when she finished with 11.

Southern enters this match without the services of Robyn Jennings who has been averaging over 10 points per game and almost 8 rebounds. Her loss will be significant. Who Tigers Coach Willie Jennette picks to match-up on Monique Bowley with Jennings missing, will be critical to the result. Bowley can be a match winner, as she has proven during the season. She has the ability to dominate a game, averaging 14.8 points per game and 10.4 rebounds in the minor round.

Also finding form is her sister Brigid Bowley who saw 22 minutes of court time in the loss against the Bearcats. The Sabres will look to exploit Southern's lack of height by feeding the ball inside to the Bowley sisters who will look to go to work inside the keyway.

Little should separate the sides in the guards department with Caroline Burgess a major player in Sturt's success this season along with Bree Farley who has made a welcome return from the AIS. Southern's Rosalie Cutri has had a good season since joining the team from the Rockets. Last weekend she exceeded her season average of 10 point per game when she finished the game high scorer with 18 points in the win against Norwood. Madelaine Cunningham has also been in good form for Southern averaging 13.5 points per game.

The loss of Jennings who returned home to the US for family reasons will be a big blow to Southern's chances. For that reason the Sabres will start as favourites to win at home.