Central Wrap | Women's Round 7

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Norwood Flames stunned Sturt Sabres to leave West Adelaide Bearcats the lone undefeated NBL1 Central team while Woodville Warriors made it three straight, Forestville Eagles bounced back and Central Districts Lions got a second win.

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Woodville Warriors (82) defeated South Adelaide Panthers (66)

The defending champion Woodville Warriors made it three straight wins and denied the South Adelaide Panthers a fourth in-a-row with the 82-66 home victory.

Both teams came into the match up at St Clair Recreation Centre in winning form with Woodville building momentum in their championship defence having won the past two while the Panthers arrived having won their past three matches.

That set the stage for a fascinating match up and the Panthers did lead by five points at quarter-time and by two at the half, but the Warriors took control from there.

Woodville outscored South Adelaide 45 points to 27 after half-time for the 16-point win to improve to a 5-3 record with three consecutive wins while the Panthers are now 5-3 following a first loss in the last four matches.

Lealani Falatea was impressive in the win for Woodville finishing with 22 points, eight rebounds and six assists while playing all 40 minutes.

Brittany Hodges continued her Anzac Medal winning form with another 16 points and nine rebounds with Naomi Allotey contributing 11 points and seven boards, Ambah Kowcun 10 points, six rebounds and two assists, and Casey Real nine points and three assists.

Captain Jordan Hunter who might have only scored three points on 1/7 shooting, but had a significant impact with 12 assists, 10 rebounds, three blocks and two steals.

Hatti Cox had 14 points in the first half and finished with 19 to go with five assists and three steals on 4/13 three-point shooting for South Adelaide.

Hannah Gardiner contributed 16 points and eight rebounds, Keira Gardiner 14 points and five boards, and Daisy Hocking six points, five rebounds and four assists.

Sturt Sabres (59) lost to Norwood Flames (69)

The undefeated start to the season of the Sturt Sabres is over after a horror shooting night at home and the Norwood Flames taking advantage for the 69-59 victory.

The Sabres were back home at Springbank Secondary College having won all seven matches this season so far by an average of 26.7 and just needing to beat Norwood to set up a battle of the undefeated teams next Saturday with the West Adelaide Bearcats.

However, it wasn’t to be with Norwood coming in off a win over the Forrestville Eagles and looking to back it up even with Dara Mabrey still involved with the WNBA's Toronto Tempo.

Norwood made an encouraging start with 21 points to 13 in the first quarter and then remained on top the rest of the way to lead by 13 at half-time, by 10 at three quarter-time and then to complete the 10-point victory.

The Flames improve to 4-4 with the win with Maddy Hinton delivering 20 points while Caitlin Shillabeer added 16 points and five rebounds, Cali Clark 10 points, 19 boards and three assists, and Allysyn Becki seven points, six rebounds and five assists.

Sturt are now 7-1 on the back off a rough shooting night going 23 per cent from the floor with 5/30 from downtown with Tayla Brazel shooting 6/23, Katia Stamatelopoulos 2/11 and Nicola Matthews 2/13.

Brazel finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and two steals, Zoe Walker-Roberts eight points and three boards, Chelsea Portus six points, Mathews six points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals, Stamatelopoulos six points, four steals and three boards, and Meg Prosser six points.

Eastern Mavericks (47) lost to West Adelaide Bearcats (104)

The West Adelaide Bearcats continued their dominant start to the season and remained unbeaten with the 104-47 thumping of the Eastern Mavericks.

It was top against bottom at St Francis de Sales Community Sports Centre with the Bears arriving unbeaten in 2026 and the Mavericks hosting them with just one win in seven matches.

The Bearcats then shot out of the blocks with 36 points to 17 in the first quarter to set the tone for the evening with the lead getting out to 30 points at half-time, 43 at three quarter-time and 57 by the final buzzer.

West Adelaide ended up taking 29 extra shots and four more free throws on the back of pulling down 24 offensive rebounds and forcing the Mavericks into 36 turnovers.

The Bearcats are now 8-0 to start the season with Morgan Yaeger producing another 23 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Coco Hodges also had 17 points, six rebounds and three steals, Chloe Hodges 15 points, 12 boards, nine assists and five steals, and Krystal Thompson 10 points, five steals, four rebounds and three assists.

The Mavericks are 1-7 as a result of the loss with Bella Schaftenaar finishing with 13 points and four rebounds, Annaliese Watkinson 11 points, two boards and two steals, and Antigonie Sanabria eight points, four rebounds and two steals.

Central Districts Lions (80) defeated North Adelaide Rockets (73)

Both teams were chasing a second win of the season and the Central Districts Lions were the ones successful with the 80-73 home win against the North Adelaide Rockets.

Each side came into the match up at STARplex on 1-6 records for the season and on losing streaks heightening the stakes for their Round 7 match up.

After the Lions were leading by just a point at quarter-time, they took control in the second term with 26 points to 15 including completing an 11-0 run.

That saw Centrals leading by 12 at half-time and maintaining that advantage through the second half for the eventual seven-point win to improve to 2-6 on the season.

Tiahna Sears delivered 26 points, 16 rebounds and two assists for Central Districts with Grace Stone adding 20 points and six assists, Alana Howden 14 points and four assists, and Bethany Harap 10 points and four rebounds.

The Rockets are now 1-7 with a fourth straight defeat with Sarah Warner top-scoring with 20 points, three rebounds and two assists.

Jordyn Freer added 17 points, five rebounds and four assists, Abbey Jones 12 points, 11 boards, four assists and three blocks, Ella Batish 11 points, five rebounds and three steals, and Shannon Webber 10 points and six boards.

Southern Tigers (69) lost to Forestville Eagles (81)

The Forestville Eagles bounced back from their Anzac Day loss to get back to a .500 record on the season with the 81-69 road win against the Southern Tigers.

The Tigers were back home at Morphett Vale Basketball Stadium trying to snap a three-game losing streak as they hosted a Forestville outfit who lost back on Anzac Day to the Norwood Flames.

Forestville had built a seven-point lead already by quarter-time before pushing that out to 12 at half-time, 17 at three quarter-time and they completed the deal on the 12-point victory.

The Eagles improve to 4-4 with the win with Rachael King delivering 21 points and six rebounds on 8/9 shooting from the field and 2/2 from behind the three-point arc.

Ella Sawyer added 19 points, nine rebounds, six assists and two steals, Jess Simons 14 points and 10 boards, and Sydney Hunter 14 points, four rebounds and two assists.

The Tigers have now lost four in-a-row for a 3-5 record on the season with Annelise Bartsch finishing with 19 points and eight rebounds with Mollie McKendrick adding 15 points, 13 boards and three assists, Jhaz Joson 12 points and three rebounds, and Holly Forbes 10 points and four steals.