WNBL Review - Round 18

Dandenong have taken their third straight minor premiership in the Price Attack Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL), with preliminary round matches for the 2005/06 season concluding on Sunday afternoon.

It was a tight race the finish, with five teams still in contention for the top four up until Saturday night, when Canberra’s win over Dandenong knocked Sydney Uni from the race after an unbelievable nine-game winning streak.

In one of the closest WNBL seasons in history, the final positioning of the top five teams had to be decided on countbacks, with Bulleen Melbourne and Sydney Uni finishing with 13 wins and eight losses (Bulleen Melbourne won the series 2-1 over Sydney Uni), and Dandenong, Adelaide and Canberra all finishing with 14 wins and seven losses and it coming down to points scored for and against in games between those teams.

After some meticulous mathematic work, now have the final positions, with Dandenong (1st) taking on Adelaide (2nd) in the Major Semi on Saturday afternoon and Canberra (3rd) hosting Bulleen Melbourne (4th) on Friday night.

The Major Semi will be broadcast live on ABC-TV from 4pm on Saturday with highlights of the Minor Semi to be broadcast after the live match finishes.

The ‘weekend’ started early for six teams with Bulleen Melbourne hosting Dandenong at Knox Stadium on Wednesday night. The Boomers had a tough road home, with matches against the Rangers, Sydney Uni and Townsville in four nights.

They took it right up to their cross-town rivals on Wednesday, with an almost capacity crowd on hand to watch what is always a tough and hard-fought encounter. The hosts walked away 55-52 victors and with their first win over Dandenong in three years.

The Boomers were superb, rallying back from several Rangers’ surges to secure the win. Sharin Milner was instrumental, finishing with 12 points, six rebounds and five assists.

Hollie Grima, who jumped out of the blocks in the first half with 13 points and five rebounds, wasn’t a factor down the stretch, and added only two more points to her tally as the Rangers defensive pressure in the halfcourt seemed to rattle the Boomers.

Carly Wilson top scored for the Rangers with 13, Emma Randall had nine and Jacinta Hamilton had six points and 11 rebounds.

Sydney Uni hosted the winless AIS on Wednesday night and gave them a taste of what Bulleen Melbourne were waiting for on Friday night, pumping the students, 84-39.

Trish Fallon was merciless on the youngsters, scoring 20 points in 22 minutes. Belinda Snell had 14 points in 17 minutes, as coach Karen Dalton rested her stars for the upcoming do-or-die match against Bulleen Melbourne on Friday night.

Katie Ebzery was best for the AIS with 10 points, while Mikaela Dombkins and Cayla Francis had eight points each.

Wednesday night’s final match saw Adelaide host Perth in the match that would decide the season series between the two teams. Adelaide dropped a game to Perth early in the season and Perth were hoping to secure their second series for the season, with the one against the AIS already wrapped up.

It wasn’t to be for the West Australians, with Adelaide proving too tough, taking a 76-63 victory.

Adelaide’s three pillars – Jenni Screen (20 pts), Erin Phillips (18pts) and Laura Summerton (18pts) steered the ship for the Fellas, also gathering 23 rebounds between them.

Deanna Smith, who was not a certain starter after injuring her ankle against Canberra the week before, was Perth’s top scorer with 22 points, while Katherine Hanks had 20 of her own.

Friday night’s ABC-TV Game of the Week was just one more blockbuster for the weekend. Sydney Uni hosted Bulleen Melbourne is a match that was a must win for Flames and an important win for the Boomers.

After a shaky start, the Flames dominated the second half and in the end took a 20-point victory, 77-57.

Once again, Fallon, Snell and Porter all shone in this match. Add in Kristen Veal, a bruising Eva Afeaki and a passionate home crowd, and this was a strong victory for Sydney Uni.

They had done all they could to make their way into the final four, but it wasn’t to be for the Flames, as their dreams faded when Canberra took a win over Dandenong on Saturday night.

For Bulleen Melbourne, veteran Larissa Cavanagh stood up to be counted with 17 points, while Sharin Milner continued to be the team’s saviour with 12. Hibbert and Grima were less than impressive with nine and seven points respectively.

Adelaide secured their place in the top four with a 91-49 win over the AIS at Wayville on Saturday night.

Laura Summerton seems to be finding her feet at the right end of the season, with 19 points and six rebounds. She was supported by Dee Randford with 14 points and Melissa Marsh with nine.

Katie Ebzery continues to shine for the AIS, finishing with 12 points.

Saturday night was the night that ended Sydney Uni’s finals dreams, with Canberra defeating Dandenong 58-55 at Southern Cross Stadium.

The Capitals got out of the blocks early, keeping the Rangers to only seven opening quarter points. The Rangers turned the tables in the second period, confining Canberra to only seven, while they turned on 27 of their own. The Capitals regained the lead in the opening stages of the final quarter and went on to win by three.

Jenny Whittle was the game’s top scorer with 18 points, while Lauren Jackson and Kellie Abrams had 11 points each.

Emma Randall and Jacinta Hamilton had 13 points each for the Rangers.

The Boomers took their weary bodies north to Townsville on Saturday, and entered a packed and ‘Fired up’ SeaFM Stadium to take on a team that may not have been playing for a finals place, but were playing for pride.

They were unable to keep up with the fresh legs of the Townsville athletes, the Fire racing away in the third quarter to post a daunting 20-point lead at the final break. Bulleen Melbourne were able to pull it back by six points, but eventually went down 86-72.

Rohanee Cox finished off a spectacular season with 21 points and 15 rebounds, while Kelly Wilson had 17 points and Jennifer Crouse 14.

Desiree Glaubitz and Katie Davis each had 13 points for Bulleen Melbourne.

In the final preliminary match of the season the Perth Lynx finished their season on a good note on Sunday, playing at home and defeating the AIS 82-65.

Deanna Smith showed that she was well and truly over the ankle injury that forced her from the floor in her match against Canberra in Round 17, pouring on 29 points in 33 minutes. Katharine Hanks also finished the season well, scoring 18 points and pulling in 11 rebounds.

The AIS made a good run at the West Australians in the third quarter, piling on 30 points in the period thanks to contributions from all over the floor.

Cayla Francis finished with the top score for the students, 15 points, while Mikaela Dombkins impressed in her final match for the AIS with nine points and 11 rebounds. Rebecca Schatz and Emma Langford also had nine points each.

Dandenong finished the season on top with 14 wins and seven losses. Adelaide came in second, also with 14 and seven. Canberra finished third with 14 and seven and Bulleen Melbourne snuck in with 13 wins and eight losses. Sydney Uni finished fifth with 13 and eight, Townsville sixth with 12 and nine, Perth seventh with four and 17 and the AIS did not register a win for the season and finished in last place.

Deanna Smith finished the season with the best scoring figures of the League, averaging 21.7. Bulleen Melbourne’s Katrina Hibbert finished second with 18.2 and Jenny Whittle snuck into the top three with 17.0 per game.

The rebounding tally was very close, with Bulleen Melbourne’s Hollie Grima finishing in top with 9.1 per game, and after leading for most of the season, Adelaide’s Laura Summerton finished in a tie for second on 9.0 with Jenny Whittle.

Erin Phillips kept her place at the top of the assists leader board with 4.9 per game, followed by Emily McInerny on 4.1 and Belinda Snell on 3.9 per game.

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