The South West Slammers women made it back to back wins and a 2-1 start to 2017 with a hard fought 69-65 victory over East Perth at the Eaton Recreation Centre. 

 

Despite still missing their imports and again relying on their local cohort, the visitors  proved cagey opponents pushing the home team all the way to the finish.

 

A steady start to the game saw the Slammers hold the advantage at quarter time. A dour start to the second quarter saw both teams exchange baskets before the Slammers fouled Haley De Dousa on a made triple aiding a seven point Eagles run to give Narelle Henry's team a 32-30 advantage into the second quarter. 

 

The Eagles managed to frustrate Slammers import Hodges in the first half with single and double coverage in the post forcing the home team to look elsewhere for contributors, Kurek and Thompson filling the void accordingly. For the Eagles it was guard Hayley De Dousa who led all contributors with a stellar 16 points to end the first stanza with the Slammers holding a slender 40-38 advantage.

 

Both teams took their time to worry the scorers in the third quarter with consecutive stops the order of the opening four minutes.

 

The Slammers women stetched to a five point lead late in the third as Raya Thompson continued her good form hitting mid range jump shots and getting to the ring. The margin extended to a 55-48 Slammers advantage to end the quarter as Courtney Bayliss hit 2 consecutive threes, akin to form from last year as import Hodges languished on the bench with foul trouble. 

 

The Eagles started the fourth with a 8-0 run to hit the front briefly before Thompson and Denehey restored a 3 point Slammers lead. It took four minutes for Coach Peter Harper to bring Hodges and Fielding back to the fold. 

 

However, Kate Fielding's return to the court was short lived as she fouled out of the game with 5 minutes to go. 

 

Hodges on the other hand, broke the scoring shackles as she got some easy looks inside and the free throw line.

 

The Slammers zone became more effective as the match wore on and it resulted in crucial stops late in the fourth. 

 

With a less than minute to go the margin was down to a two point Slammer lead as Raya thompson hit the back end of pair and a resulting East Perth time out saw a De Sousa miss a go ahead three attempt at top of of the three point circle.

 

Hodges had the chance to ice the game but 1 out of 2 from the free throw line and a three point lead was enough as another East Perth timeout proved unproductive resulting in a turnover.

 

In the end, the Slammers women held on with 69-65 victory. 

 

It was a good victory for the home team as they beat an understrength Eagles squad still waiting for their two imports to arrive. The win also equals their total number of wins from 2016 and Coach Peter Harper's group will be encouraged by their positive start to the year. 

 

East Perth will rue various lost opportunities to win the game. They had a real chance to steal an away game back to Perth but when it counted, they misfired and failed to execute. Still, this is a much improved outfit who will challenge teams once they have their full roster available.

 

Article by Vlad Alava
Photo by Ash Pearce