Central Wrap | Women's Round 4

Sturt Sabres improved to 4-0 in NBL1 Central as did West Adelaide Bearcats through Morgan Yaeger and Coco Hodges while Maddy Freer, Mollie McKendrick and Lealani Falatea led North Adelaide Rockets, Southern Tigers and Woodville Warriors to wins.

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Norwood Flames (67) lost to North Adelaide Rockets (95)

The North Adelaide Rockets are on the board for 2026 after the 95-67 road win over the Norwood Flames with a near triple-double for Maddy Freer including 20 points and 13 assists.

The Rockets arrived at The ARC Campbelltown having lost their first three games of the season as they took on a Flames team on their home floor trying to avoid back-to-back defeats.

The teams combined for 57 points in the first quarter with North Adelaide leading 29-28 and then the Rockets were clinging to the 47-45 half-time advantage.

North Adelaide then dominated the second half 48 points to 22 and win by 28 with both the Rockets and Flames now sitting on 1-3 records.

Maddy Freer delivered 20 points, 13 assists, seven rebounds and four steals for North Adelaide with 7/11 shooting from the field and 5/7 from the line.

Sarah Warner hit 5/7 from three-point range for 24 points with Jordyn Freer contributing 18 points, eight rebounds and two blocks, Shannon Webber 11 points and five assists, and Abbey Jones 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Dara Mabrey finished with 23 points, five assists, four steals and two rebounds for Norwood on 4/15 three-point shooting with Maddy Hinton adding 15 points and four rebounds, and Cali Clark 11 points and seven boards.

Sturt Sabres (77) defeated Forestville Eagles (62)

The Sturt Sabres beat the Forestville Eagles on the way to last year's Grand Final and repeated that dose at home with the 77-62 victory to remain undefeated so far in 2026.

The Sabres and Eagles met with a spot in the Grand Final last year with Sturt prevailing ahead of their Saturday match up at Springbank Secondary College.

Forestville started well away from home to lead 18-16 at quarter-time before it was Sturt on top 35-32 at the half, and then the Sabres took over in the second half to score the 15-point victory and improve to 4-0.

Nicola Mathews delivered 19 points, five rebounds and two steals for the Sabres with Tayla Brazel contributing 14 points, 14 boards, four steals and three assists, Katia Stamatelopoulos 11 points, nine rebounds and four assists, Tahlia Griffiths nine points and three boards, and Chelsea Portus nine points.

Forestville are now 1-3 with Sam Simons finishing with 19 points, six rebounds and three steals, Rachael King 10 points, six boards, three assists and two steals, Jess Simons 10 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals, and Sarah Boothe eight points, 16 boards and two blocks.

Eastern Mavericks (81) lost to Southern Tigers (91)

Mollie McKendrick dominated with 38 points and six rebounds while barely able to miss from her 19 field goals and 13 free throws to lead the Southern Tigers to the 91-81 win over the Eastern Mavericks.

The Tigers might have been on the road at St Francis de Sales Community Sports Centre but started the better with 24 points to 14 in the first quarter before the Mavs did stay in touch to cut the deficit to six by half-time.

The Tigers maintained a double-figure lead most of the second half before securing the 10-point win to improve to 3-1 on the season with McKendrick a dominant force.

She finished with 38 points and six rebounds on 13/19 field goal shooting and going 12/13 at the free-throw line.

Jhaz Joson added 20 points, five rebounds and three assists, Holly Forbes 17 points, 13 boards, three assists and three steals, and Annelise Bartsch seven points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals.

The Mavericks are now 1-3 with Annaliese Watkinson finishing with 20 points and six rebounds with Bella Schaftenaar adding 16 points, six boards and five assists, Antigonie Sanabria 15 points, six rebounds and two assists, and Brooklyn Rewers 10 points and four boards.

Woodville Warriors (82) defeated Central Districts Lions (69)

The defending champion Woodville Warriors returned to the winner's list with Lealani Falatea putting up 25 points and nine rebounds in the 82-69 home win over the Central Districts.

The Warriors were back on their home floor at St Clair Recreation Centre having lost their past two matches as they hosted a Lions team coming off a first win of the season.

Woodville built a five-point lead by quarter-time and then took control in the second quarter with 28 points to 13 to be up 46-24.

Even with Central Districts putting up 35 points in the third frame, the Warriors did enough to win by 13 points to steady their championship defence at 2-2.

Lealani Falatea starred in the win with 25 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals with Ambah Kowcun contributing 14 points, seven assists and six boards.

Brittany Hodges also had 13 points, 11 rebounds, three steals and two assists, Chloe Purvis 10 points and two assists, and Naomi Allotey nine points, three rebounds and two assists.

The Lions are now 1-3 with Alana Howden ending up with 20 points and eight assists with 4/10 three-point shooting.

Grace Stone added 19 points, six rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks, and Bethany Harrap 19 points, six boards and four assists.

South Adelaide Panthers (54) lost to West Adelaide Bearcats (109)

The West Adelaide Bearcats sent an ominous message of their intent staying unbeaten with the 109-54 thumping of the South Adelaide Panthers with Coco Hodges, Ashlee Strawbridge and Morgan Yaeger combining for 69 points.

The Bearcats arrived at Mitchell Park Sports and Community Centre having won their opening three games against the North Adelaide Rockets, Woodville Warriors and Forestville Eagles by an average of over 30 points.

Even though South Adelaide came into the game having won their past two games too against the Eagles and Norwood Flames, they had no answers for the Bearcats even on their home floor.

Across the second and third quarters the Bearcats outscored the Panthers 60 points to 15 in a remarkably dominant showing on the way to the eventual 55-point win to improve to a 4-0 start to the season.

Coco Hodges did most of her damage in the first half on her way to 27 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals with 5/10 three-point shooting for the game for the Bearcats.

Ashlee Strawbridge had nine of her 22 points in the first quarter too to go with four rebounds and to end up shooting 9/11 from the field and 4/6 from behind the arc.

Morgan Yaeger delivered 20 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and five steals, Chloe Hodges 13 points, nine boards, six assists and two steals, and Georgina Salandra nine points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Aimee Brett finished with 11 points, three rebounds and two assists for South Adelaide with Hatti Cox contributing 11 points, two assists and two steals, Hannah Gardiner 10 points and nine boards, and Keira Gardiner nine points, five rebounds and two steals.