Central Spotlight | Mansfield comes up clutch for Rockets

Featured image: Jett Ribbons | @jettsvisuals

The Woodville Warriors fired back from a 13-point fourth quarter deficit to hit the front before Lauren Mansfield put the North Adelaide Rockets back in front for the 87-85 Sunday win in NBL1 Central.

The two teams arrived at St Clair Recreation Centre having played on Saturday with Woodville winning by 27 points over the Eastern Mavericks while the Rockets went down to the South Adelaide Panthers by eight.

They backed up on Sunday and North Adelaide were leading by six points at quarter-time, by six at the half and then six at three quarter-time having been up by as much as 14.

The Rockets were back up 13 early in the fourth quarter but then the Warriors fired back on the home floor and were in front by one with a pair of free throws to Brittany Hodges with 30 seconds to go.

Mansfield then hit the biggest shot of the game to help secure the two-point win for North Adelaide that improves them to 5-11 on the season with the defending champion Warriors now 8-8 after splitting their weekend.

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By the end of the afternoon, it might have been just a two-point win for North Adelaide but they ended up shooting 53 per cent from the field opposed to 36 while hitting 14/25 from downtown to 7/27.

But Woodville gave themselves a chance on the back of getting up an extra 20 shot attempts and six more free throws thanks to 22 offensive rebounds to seven, and forcing North Adelaide into 25 turnovers while having just 19 themselves.

Sarah Warner ended up shooting 5/7 from downtown in the win for North Adelaide to finish with 24 points, three rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots.

Lauren Mansfield was making just her sixth appearance of the season and produced her best performance with 16 points and six assists.

Maddy Freer added 13 points, five assists and four rebounds, Jordyn Freer 12 points, five boards and four assists, and Briarley Rogers nine points, three rebounds and three assists.

Brittany Hodges delivered a huge performance for Woodville despite the loss with 27 points, 14 rebounds and three steals while Ambah Kowcun added 25 points, nine boards, three steals and two assists.

Jordan Hunter also had 14 points, 11 assists, three rebounds and two steals, and Naomi Allotey nine points and 13 boards.

Both teams were coming off playing the night before with the Warriors winning big over the Eastern Mavericks while the Rockets lost a tight one to the South Adelaide Panthers, and North Adelaide did start well to be leading 23-17 by the end of the first quarter.

The Rockets then led by as much as nine points in the second fame and were still on top 51-45 by half-time with Sarah Warner delivering 15 points on 3/4 three-point shooting.

North Adelaide were leading despite coughing up 14 turnovers in the first half and even with Woodville collecting eight offensive rebounds with the Rockets shooting 17/31 from the floor and 9/14 from downtown to the 17/42 and 2/14 from the Warriors.

The lead for North Adelaide was as much as 14 points in the third quarter and they were still up 71-65 by three quarter-time despite still having another four turnovers and Woodville pulling down another five offensive boards.

Warner hit another couple of threes to open the fourth quarter and the Lauren Mansfield made consecutive buckets and North Adelaide were back out to a 13-point lead to appear in control, but Woodville had other ideas.

By the time the game got to the final minute, Ambah Kowcun hit a huge three-pointer for Woodville and then Brittany Hodges made a couple of foul shots to put the home team on front with the 30 seconds to go.

They wouldn’t score again, though, or in fact get up another shot attempt with North Adelaide snatching back the win thanks to a jumper from Mansfield and foul shot from Warner.

Woodville now will try to bounce back next Saturday at home to the Forestville Eagles while North Adelaide play host to the Sturt Sabres.

NBL1 CENTRAL 2026 SEASON | ROUND 13

WOODVILLE WARRIORS 85 (Hodges 27, Kowcun 25, Hunter 14)

NORTH ADELAIDE ROCKETS 87 (Warner 24, Mansfield 16, M Freer 13)