Kassi Conditt and Megan McKay might be doing a lot of the scoring but Perry Lakes women's SBL coach CJ Jackson believes leading rebounder Danika Pisconeri and point guard Lauren Jeffers have been just as important in the Hawks' strong start to the 2015 season.

Following three years out of the playoffs, the Lady Hawks have made a strong start to the 2015 season having now won their last three matches over the Slammers, Lightning and Senators to sit on a 5-2 record heading into their Anzac Day clash against the Perth Redbacks at Curtin Stadium.

Jackson has understandably been delighted with the start to the season and puts it down to not only improved personnel, but a stronger attitude and competitiveness in the overall efforts of the team.

"I'm pretty happy with the way we are going. I think probably the biggest thing is that we have a newer line-up," Jackson told SBL Slam on 98five SonshineFM.

"We have a few returners from last year, but our line-up is young and we've got some girls who have come in and bought into our structures and ways, and getting better at it and are willing to go that hard yard for it."

The Lady Hawks have found themselves in unfamiliar territory the last three years finishing ninth in 2012 and then 10th in both 2013 and 2014, but they have started 2015 encouragingly and given every indication they will be right back in the playoff mix.

Perry Lakes has a rich history in the women's SBL having won championships in 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2007 and 2008, and making grand finals in 1999, 2000, 2004 and 2010 so the last three years hasn’t been what the club has been used to and steps were made over summer to change it.

The Hawks made a concerted effort to put together a significantly stronger unit for 2015 and that included the additions of Lauren Jeffers, Danika Pisconeri and import Kassi Conditt.

Conditt is just the second import that the Lady Hawks have signed since the SBL started up in 1989 and has been terrific so far in 2015 averaging 16.0 points and 8.6 rebounds while shooting 50 per cent from the field.

McKay is again putting in strong performances for the Hawks averaging 12.2 points and 7.8 rebounds on the back of shooting 59.3 per cent, but it's the addition of Pisconeri and Jeffers that has most pleased Jackson.

Pisconeri has been a strong addition to the Perry Lakes line-up with the 23-year-old averaging 6.4 points and 10.7 rebounds a game and Jackson can't speak more highly of the impact she has made on his team.

"She (Pisconeri) has had a couple of 17-rebound games for us and she is just going after all the glass but in saying that we are one of the biggest teams in the league," she said.

"We have two bigs going after the rebounds and then we have another big who can rebound too. One of the things we are happy with is that we have outrebounded most of our teams.

"There has been a couple of games we've been outrebounded in when they were quicker to the ball, but we are pretty happy because one of the things we accepted was to be a good defensive unit and be a little cleaner on the glass to help with that."

Jeffers has also given that veteran leadership to the Hawks team as point guard. Having being the SBL's assists leader in 2012 and previously playing with the Stirling Senators and South West Slammers as well as in the WNBL, the 27-year-old brings a lot to the table.

And she is delivering on the court running the ship for the Lady Hawks and averaging 12.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.5 steals a game.

Jackson isn’t hiding from the fact that she is the exact type of player he knew that Perry Lakes needed to be a force again.

"I think she (Jeffers) adds a very big dimension to us. If you look through the history of our club, Tanya Kelly was obviously our great point guard and we needed to get back to having that great point guard," Jackson said.

"We had girls who could shoot the ball and we have some bigs, but we need someone who can orchestrate that and be the quarterback of our team and her acquisition to our club has been a big, big coup for us."

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Sebpix