Eagles Recap | Women Round 7

Featured image: @codexdesignstudio, Mark Filpo

Sarah Mortensen had another 22 points and every East Perth Eagles starter scored in double figures in the eventual 85-66 road victory on Saturday night against the Eastern Suns to improve to 6-1 in the NBL1 West.

The Eagles arrived at Ray Owen Sports Centre on Saturday night for the clash with the Suns having won their past two matches and looking to keep the momentum going against a dangerous opponent on their home floor.

East Perth started well to be leading by seven points at quarter-time and then continued to build on that advantage the rest of the way before scoring the 19-point victory to now sit on a 6-1 record and be clear in second position in the NBL1 West standings.

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The Eagles did end up getting to the foul line eight more times than the Suns while pulling down 19 offensive rebounds for the game, but coach Jonelle Morley would still see areas of improvement with he 20 turnovers and shooting just 43 per cent from the floor, 29 per cent from deep and 57 per cent at the foul line.

As Sarah Mortensen now prepares to play the Cockburn team she won two championships with for the first time, she put up another strong performance with the Eagles finishing with 22 points, nine rebounds and three assists on 10/19 field goal shooting.

There were plenty more strong contributors with Sydney Wright finishing with 15 points, six assists, two rebounds and two steals with 6/10 shooting.

Brooke Malone also had another double double with 13 points and 12 rebounds while Jade Williams contributed 13 points, five boards and two steals, and Jo Odude eight points, 10 rebounds and a steal.

Ella Averill finished with 15 points and five rebounds for the Eastern Suns with Gaby Bronson adding 14 points, five assists, four boards and four steals.

By the end of the first quarter the Eagles were leading 23-16 on the back of going on a 7-0 run and with Sarah Mortensen starting impressively with nine points already on the board.

By the end of the first quarter the Eagles were shooting at 44 per cent to just 33 from the Suns while also getting to the foul line 10 times to two, and pulling down five offensive rebounds as well to be winning the possession game.

That lead for East Perth got out to 14 points in the second quarter and by half-time they were leading 42-31 and while Mortensen didn’t add to her nine points, Sydney Wright was up to nine and Stacey Barr had eight by the half.

The Eagles also had another four offensive rebounds for the second quarter and forced the Eastern Suns into four more turnovers and nine for the half while limiting them to shooting 29 per cent from the field and 3/19 from downtown.

That lead for East Perth kept on growing and got out to 17 points in the third period and 24 in the last before they secured the eventual 19-point victory to improve to a 6-1 record to start the season.

The Eagles now prepare to take on the undefeated Cockburn Cougars on Friday night at Wally Hagan Stadium.