THE Stirling Senators made a winning start to the 2016 Women's SBL season in a thriller under new coach Glenn Clarke as he now prepares to take on the club he won a three-peat of Championships with.

Clarke had a tremendous run as coach of the Willetton Tigers team that won Women's SBL Championships in 2009, 2010 and 2011 but come this Thursday night he will be plotting the downfall of his former club.

The triple Championship winner has returned to a head coaching role at the Stirling Senators for 2016 and that got off to a winning start last Friday night with a 67-66 victory over the Lakeside Lightning at Warwick Stadium.

Now to open Week 2 of the Women's SBL 2016 season, the Senators will be heading to Willetton Basketball Stadium to take on the Tigers on Thursday night.

It's a big task ahead of Stirling given Willetton lost just twice all of last season and only narrowly lost the Grand Final to the Rockingham Flames.

The Tigers then started their 2016 campaign impressively beating both the East Perth Eagles and Rockingham last weekend.

But Clarke likes the team that he's put together with the Senators and especially the depth he has built with a group that goes 10 deep.

Last week against the Lightning that saw Amber Land (18 points, 17 rebounds), Kara van Dyke (18 points, nine boards), Taylor Bestry (13 points, six rebounds), Amanda Beatson (seven points, five boards) and Bridget Henderson (four points, five rebounds) among the strong contributors.

And with Tegan Walker still to come back in, he is confident of a strong season from a Senators team that won just four games in 2015.

"Amber's back and she's fitter than ever. It's a good team now where it's all balanced from five to one and a lot of girls are now stepping up, which is good," Clarke told the SBL Slam on 98.5 SonshineFM.

"We've got Amanda Beatson who played in the QBL and we've also got Kara in who is the wife of men's import Kyle (Lindbergh). We've also got Taylor Bestry back, Chelsea Armstrong she's back and it's deep. We go 10 deep now which is good."

A big reason Clarke is looking forward to the Senators evolving in 2016 is because of the deep roster that will allow him to have them playing an up-tempo style.

And he wants them to play as fast as they can and that has the chance to unsettle a quality team like the Tigers this Thursday.

"We are going to push the ball up as quick as we can," Clarke said.

"We've got the bigs now to seal so we can compete in the key way and we can also shoot the ball from the outside as well."

There will also be two other Women's SBL matches on Thursday to begin the Week 2 action with the Perry Lakes Hawks facing the Mandurah Magic at Bendat Basketball Centre, and the Joondalup Wolves facing the Rockingham Flames at Joondalup Basketball Stadium.

The Hawks and Magic will both be making their first appearances of 2016 after an opening round.

The Flames are shooting for a third successive title this year, but they began on a losing note last week in a Grand Final rematch against Willetton.

Rockingham will still likely be without WNBL star import Ifunanya Ibekwe but will be looking to get its first win on the board against a Wolves team that last week thumped the South West Slammers by 39 points on the road.

There are then two matches on Saturday night with the South West Slammers hosting the Lakeside Lightning at Eaton Recreation Centre and the Cockburn Cougars facing the Kalamunda Eastern Suns at Wally Hagan Stadium.

The Slammers and Lightning both suffered losses last weekend but the difference in margins couldn’t have been more stark. South West lost to Joondalup by 39 points and Lakeside went down to Stirling by just one.

And finally on Easter Monday, the defending champion Rockingham Flames will face the East Perth Eagles at Mike Barnett Sports Complex. Both teams lost to the Willetton Tigers in Week 1 to start off 2016.

WEEK 2 WOMEN'S SBL FIXTURES
THURSDAY
Perry Lakes Hawks v Mandurah Magic, Bendat Basketball Centre 6.30pm
Joondalup Wolves v Rockingham Flames, Joondalup Basketball Stadium 6.30pm
Willetton Tigers v Stirling Senators, Willetton Basketball Stadium 6.30pm

SATURDAY
South West Slammers v Lakeside Lightning, Eaton Recreation Centre 6pm
Cockburn Cougars v Kalamunda Eastern Suns, Wally Hagan Stadium 6pm

MONDAY
Rockingham Flames v East Perth Eagles, Mike Barnett Sports Complex 12pm

Article by Chris Pike