East Wrap | Women's Round 3

Featured image: Jacob Fara // @jacobfarasp

The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles made it 24 straight with two NBL1 East wins by a combined 129 points while there were first wins for the Sydney Comets and Maitland Mustangs, and first home victories for the Bankstown Bruins and Illawarra Hawks.

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SATURDAY

Albury Wodonga Bandits (75) defeated Hills Hornets (53)

The Albury Wodonga Bandits were back home and enjoyed themselves with the 75-53 victory against the Hills Hornets.

The Bandits lost their first game of the season to the Bankstown Bruins at Lauren Jackson Sports Centre before a big win over the Central Coast Crusaders while the Hornets arrived having lost their past two after a first up win.

Albury Wodonga managed to build a nine-point lead during the second quarter but that was just a 34-31 advantage by half-time.

The Bandits then took control in the second half with 41 points to 22 to win by 22 and improve to 2-1 as a result.

Emily Lyttle top-scored with 18 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals while Unique Thompson delivered 15 points, 14 boards and two steals.

Emma Mahady also had 14 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals with Melanie Kirby contributing 15 points and eight boards.

The Hornets are now 1-3 on the season with Jade Kirisome ending up with 14 points and three assists, Kennedy Johnson 13 points, 14 boards, three assists and two blocks, and Ella Gale nine points and nine rebounds.

Illawarra Hawks (78) defeated Central Coast Crusaders (62)

The Illawarra Hawks avoided a third straight loss and handed the Central Coast Crusaders a 17th consecutive defeat with the 78-62 win in their home opener.

The Hawks had gone 1-2 on the road to start the season and played at The Snakepit for the first time in 2026 taking on a Crusaders team having been blown away to start the season losing their first three games by an average of 65 points.

It wasn’t the same sort of dominant win for Illawarra but still the home team was leading by seven points at the end of the first quarter on the back of an early 12-0 run.

That was out to nine at the end of the season and by 18 heading into the fourth before securing the 16-point victory to improve to 2-2.

Una Jovanovich top-scored for the Hawks with 23 points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals with Ruby MacDonald adding 18 points, 11 boards, two steals and two blocks, and Asha Phillips 10 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Darcy Rees also had nine points, seven rebounds and two assists, and Charlotte Giles nine points and five boards.

It's 17 straight losses for the Crusaders with Kizzah Maltezo putting up 23 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals with 5/11 three-point shooting.

Nikki Worner added 12 points and four steals, Jess Stone 10 points, five rebounds and two assists, and Bronte Moore six points and six boards.

Norths Bears (84) defeated Sutherland Sharks (65)

It was the battle of undefeated teams and the Norths Bears improved to 4-0 getting a huge first up effort from new signing Talya Brugler in the 84-65 home win over the Sutherland Sharks.

The Bears were home at North Sydney Indoor Sports Centre having won their opening three matches and bringing in a new import with Brugler but the Sharks had also started well.

They had won their opening two matches with one of those with and without superstar Lauren Nicholson with the new mum back in the line-up for the Saturday match up with the Bears.

Norths remained in a degree of control most of the contest leading by as much as 23 points in the second half on the way to the 19-point win to improve to 4-0 to start 2026.

Brugler joined the Bears and wasted no time fitting in either with 23 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two blocks on 10/15 shooting with 3/7 from deep and being +21 in her 35 minutes.

Caitlyn Martin also had 15 points and eight assists for Norths with 4/6 three-point shooting while Issy Morgan had 12 points and three steals fresh off re-signing with the Sydney Flames for WNBL27.

Emma Donnelly had eight of her 11 points in the first quarter and shot 3/6 from behind the arc while Jaz Shelley ended up with eight points, seven rebounds, six assists and two blocked shots.

The Sharks are now 2-1 to start the season after suffering a first defeat with Abi Curtin having 16 of her 18 points in the first half while ending with six rebounds and 8/15 shooting.

Lauren Nicholson returned with 13 points, seven assists and five rebounds with Ella Dent contributing 13 points and four assists, and Maddy Norris 10 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

Maitland Mustangs (77) defeated Canberra Nationals (57)

The Maitland Mustangs are on the board for 2026 scoring their first win beating the Canberra Nationals 77-57 on their home floor.

The Mustangs had lost their first two games of 2026 while the Nationals arrived at Mojo Homes Centre having split their opening two matches while awaiting the arrival of Caitie Jones who had a standout season in 2025 at the Albury Wodonga Bandits.

Maitland were already leading 20-12 by the end of one before stretching that lead to 12 by half-time, by 17 at three quarter-time and then 20 by the final buzzer with both teams now having 1-2 records.

Sara Matthews top-scored for the Mustangs with 19 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals with 4/7 shooting from behind the arc while Shakera Reilly had 16 points, four boards and two assists.

Jessalyn Finney added 10 points and nine rebounds, Kasey Neubert nine points, nine boards and two steals, and Charlotte Cougle seven points, three rebounds and three assists.

Skye Rees top-scored for Maitland with 13 points with five rebounds while Allison Day added 11 points on 5/10 shooting, Zara Funnell nine points and three rebounds, and Callie Bourne seven points, 15 boards and three assists.

Sydney Comets (70) defeated Penrith Panthers (56)

The Sydney Comets are now on the board in 2026 with new NBL1 East arrival Eryn Fisher starring in their 70-56 win against the Penrith Panthers.

The Comets were back at Comets Stadium looking to win a first game in 2026 hosting a Panthers team who arrived having split their first two contests.

Sydney started well to lead by three at quarter-time and then continued to build on that advantage to lead by four at half-time, nine at three quarter-time and to score the 14-point victory.

The star of the win was Fisher who is new to the NBL1 East in 2026 having previously played 128 games in the West with the Warwick Senators, East Perth Eagles, Eastern Suns and Perry Lakes Hawks while her mother Tanya is a great of Western Australian basketball.

She delivered 21 points and four rebounds on 8/13 shooting from the floor and 5/6 at the stripe.

Alexandria Oliver added 13 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and four steals, Elle Fletcher 11 points, five boards and two steals, and Mikayla Pirini eight points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.

Hannah Griffin top-scored for Penrith with 20 points and four rebounds with Tatiana Beaumont adding 11 points, seven boards, five assists and two steals, and Chanel Bastin nine points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Manly Warringah Sea Eagles (123) defeated Inner West Bulls (47)

It was another dominant performance from the defending champion Manly Warringah Sea Eagles already leading by 42 points by half-time on the way to the eventual 123-47 win over the Inner West Bulls.

The Sea Eagles were back home at Northern Beaches Indoor Sports Centre on a 22-game winning streak including last season's championship triumph hosting a Bulls team yet to win in 2026.

Already by quarter-time Manly Warringah were leading 30-16 before another 34 points to six in the second term to be up 64-22 by the main break.

It was another 59 points to 25 in the second half with the Sea Eagles winning by 76 points to now have won all four matches of 2026 by an average of 36 points.

Manly Warringah ended up shooting 57 per cent from the field to 30 from Inner West to go with 21/45 from three-point range to 3/18 while pulling down 16 offensive rebounds to five.

Sari Mowbray finished with 23 points, eight rebounds and four assists for the Sea Eagles with 5/12 three-point shooting while Jayda Jansen hit 5/6 for 20 points.

Zoey Miller added 23 points and three steals, Kim Dickinson 18 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, Maja Jurlina 12 points on 4/8 shooting from deep, Bree Delaney 11 points, eight boards, seven assists and four steals, and Josie Radan six points, 10 assists and seven rebounds.

The Bulls are now 0-3 for the season with Taylah Levy finishing with 16 points, six rebounds and four assists, Jennifer Mailei 10 points, and Llianna Jacob nine points, six rebounds and two steals.

SUNDAY

Manly Warringah Sea Eagles (110) defeated Penrith Panthers (57)

The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles continued to show their dominance cruising to the 24th straight win with the reigning champs beating the Penrith Panthers 110-57.

Coming off a 76-point Saturday win over the Central Coast Crusaders, the Sea Eagles were back at Northern Beaches Indoor Sports Centre to host a Panthers team trying to bounce back from going down to the Sydney Comets.

That was a tall order with Manly Warringah going on an 11-0 run in the first quarter to be up 13 by quarter-time before continuing to build on that the rest of the way.

The Sea Eagles would lead by 24 at half-time, 32 at three quarter-time and then won by 53 in the finish to make it 24 wins in-a-row and their five victories of 2026 coming at an average of 39 points.

Alex Delaney finished with 23 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and three steals for the reigning champs with Zoey Miller delivering 18 points and seven rebounds, and Bree Delaney 16 points, nine boards and three assists.

Sari Mowbray also had 16 points and six rebounds, Kim Dickinson 15 points, nine boards and five assists, and Josie Radan 12 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists and two steals.

Chanel Bastin top-scored for Penrith with 18 points and four rebounds with Sofia Hunt contributing 15 points, four boards and two steals, Tatiana Beaumont eight points and four assists, and Georgia Noack seven points and seven assists.

Newcastle Falcons (75) defeated Canberra Nationals (57)

It might not have been as dominant as the three-time NBL1 East MVP can be, but Nicole Munger had another strong triple-double as the Newcastle Falcons made it three straight beating the Canberra Nationals 75-57.

The Falcons were back home at Newcastle Basketball Stadium having won their past two matches after a first up loss to the Norths Bears with the Nationals arriving trying to bounce back from the previous evening's loss to the Maitland Mustangs.

Canberra did their best to hang in there through three quarters but Newcastle took over in the last term with 20 points to nine to secure the 18-point victory.

Newcastle improved to 3-1 with the win to make it three on the trot with Munger providing a trademark triple-double made up of 12 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.

Kate Kingham added 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists, Meg Jefferson 15 points and nine boards, Sophie Brennan 13 points, five rebounds and three steals, Rose Bond 10 points, two assists and two steals, and Claudea Waihape-Andrews eight points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Canberra are now 1-3 as they await the arrival of Caitie Jones to provide some added firepower after they shot just 38 per cent from the field and 3/18 from deep for the game to go with having 24 turnovers.

Allison Day top-scored with 19 points and eight rebounds with Skye Rees adding 15 points and five boards, Jasmyn Boutzos six points, four rebounds and four assists, and Callie Bourne six points, six boards and five assists.

Bankstown Bruins (87) defeated Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders (71)

The Bankstown Bruins came from three points down heading into the fourth quarter to secure the 87-71 home win over the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders with all five starters having impressive afternoons.

The Bruins were playing a first home game of the season at Bankstown Basketball Stadium having won one of three on the road so far ahead of hosting a Spiders team having two of three all on their home floor.

It was a seesaw affair the whole way with Bankstown opening up a 14-point lead in the first quarter but by midway through the third term it was the Spiders holding a six-point advantage.

Hornby Ku-Ring-Gai were still up three heading into the fourth, but Bankstown put up 27 points to eight in the last 10 minutes for the 16-point win in their home opener.

Tahlia Tupaea produced 20 points, eight assists, six steals and five rebounds for the Bruins with Shalome Dunlop adding 19 points, four boards, four assists and two steals, and Margot De Freitas 13 points and three steals.

Davida Dale also had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Kiahna Davis-White 11 points and seven boards.

Lucy Mead top-scored for the Spiders with 20 points and seven rebounds with 3/5 three-point shooting with Ruby Perkins adding 17 points, seven boards and five assists, Kristian Moore 11 points, five rebounds and four assists, Laya Hartman nine points and four boards, and Ay'Anna Bey eight points and six rebounds.