East Wrap | Women's Round 7

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Bankstown Bruins continued to be unbeaten in NBL1 East with Shyla Heal while Emily Lytle had 29 points and seven threes in a win for Albury Wodonga Bandits, and Jaz Shelley dominated with 32 points, 12 steals and seven triples for undefeated Norths Bears.

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SATURDAY

Hills Hornets (76) lost to Centre of Excellence (87)

The Centre of Excellence had to battle hard to bounce back from their loss last Sunday to overcome the Hills Hornets 87-76.

The CoE arrived at Hills Basketball Stadium after losing their Grand Final rematch to the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles last Sunday while the Hornets came into the contest having won their past two matches.

After the Centre of Excellence were up five early, the Hornets went on a 10-0 scoring run to help them to the 24-21 lead by quarter-time.

The CoE worked on top again in the second term with 20 points to 13 and then they had another 25 to 18 in the third term including scoring 13 straight points to build a 17-point lead.

The Centre of Excellence went on to score the 11-point victory from there to improve to 7-2 on the season Zara Russell starring once more with 22 points, four assists, three steals and two rebounds.

Isabel Smith also delivered 16 points, four rebounds and three assists, Aspen Crase 11 points and four boards, Eliza Shanahan nine points and three assists, and Reece Anticevic eight points and three rebounds.

The Hornets are now 4-5 following the loss at home with Piper Anderson delivering 22 points and two steals with 4/8 three-point shooting.

Jade Kirisome added 14 points, four rebounds and two assists, Sherrie Calleia 13 points, seven assists, three steals and three rebounds, and Ella Gale eight points, 13 boards and five steals.

Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders (104) defeated Inner West Bulls (72)

With 22 points each from Ay'Anna Bey and Ruby Perkins, the Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Spiders dominated at home to the Inner West Bulls for the 104-72 victory.

The Spiders were back to The Brickpit coming off last week's loss to the Norths Bears while the Bulls arrived still yet to taste victory in 2026.

It was a competitive start with Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai only leading by three points at quarter-time before the home team put up 27 points to 16 in the second term on the way to the 52-38 lead by half-time.

That lead continued to grow for the Spiders and got out to 29 points in the third quarter and 35 in the fourth before they secured the eventual 32-point victory.

The win improves Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai to a 6-3 record with Bey finishing with 22 points, 12 rebounds and two assists on 10/13 shooting from the floor.

Perkins added 22 points, eight assists and seven rebounds on 9/14 shooting with Jessie-May Hall contributing 19 points, nine boards, seven assists, three blocks and two steals, Kristina Moore 19 points, six rebounds and four assists, and Daila Walker 14 points on 4/8 three-point shooting.

The Bulls are now 0-9 to start 2026 with Taylah Levy delivering 28 points, eight rebounds and eight assists with 5/10 three-point shooting.

Mizuki Wakamatsu added 16 points and five steals, Seehia Ridard 14 points, seven rebounds and two steals, and Jennifer Mailei six points and four boards.

Norths Bears (106) defeated Central Coast Crusaders (52)

The Norths Bears delivered another dominant performance with Jaz Shelly phenomenal with 32 points and 12 steals with seven three-pointers in their 106-52 win over the Central Coast Crusaders.

The Bears remain the last remaining undefeated NBL1 East team and put that record on the line at North Sydney Indoor Sports Centre against a Crusaders team with just one win from nine games in 2026.

That set it up as a mismatch coming into the contest and it played out that way from the outset with Norths already out to a 34-12 advantage by quarter-time.

That lead all of a sudden was 43 during the second quarter and the Bears were on top 65-24 by half-time on the back 31 to 12 in the second term.

Both teams then scored 17 points each in the third frame before Norths had another 24 to 11 in the last stanza on the way to the 54-point victory to improve to a perfect 11-0 record.

Shelley was again the star for Norths delivering 32 points, 12 steals, six rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots on the back of shooting 7/16 from three-point range.

Emma Donnelly added 18 points, six rebounds and two assists, Talya Brugler 11 points, three boards, three steals, two assists and two blocks, Peggy Schell 11 points and four rebounds, Bec Donnelly nine points, Caitlyn Martin eight points and six assists, and Issy Morgan eight points and four rebounds.

The Crusaders are now 1-9 after the loss with Leila Heffernan top scoring with 14 points, three steals and two rebounds while Tristan Black had 10 points and 11 boards, and Cushla Alpen 10 points, eight rebounds and two steals.

Penrith Panthers (67) lost to Illawarra Hawks (79)

The Illawarra Hawks made it back-to-back wins for the first time this season with the 79-67 road win against the Penrith Panthers.

The Panthers were back home at Minto Indoor Sports Centre and the home team started well to lead 24-23 by the end of the first quarter.

Illawarra responded with a dominant second term with 22 points to nine to go into the half-time break leading 45-33.

Both teams then scored 34 points apiece in the second half which saw the Hawks go on to score the 12-point victory to improve to a 4-5 record.

Asha Phillips top scored for Illawarra with 20 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals with Una Jovanovich adding 16 points, six assists, four steals and three boards.

Darcy Rees also had 13 points, 13 rebounds, four assists, four steals and two blocks, Imogen Thompson 13 points, three boards and two steals, and Ruby MacDonald nine points, seven rebounds and three assists.

Penrith are now 1-7 following the loss at home with Hannah Griffin producing 22 points with 4/7 three-point shooting.

Sofia Hunt added 20 points, six rebounds and three assists with 5/8 three-point shooting while Maria Garcia Leon added eight points, 11 boards and three assists, and Tatiana Beaumont seven points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Newcastle Falcons (78) defeated Maitland Mustangs (60)

The Newcastle Falcons got back to winning setting up their 78-60 home win against the Maitland Mustangs with a dominant first half performance.

The Falcons were back home at Newcastle Basketball Stadium looking to respond to last week's loss to the Norths Bears while the Mustangs arrived fresh off beating the Albury Wodonga Bandits.

Newcastle started strongly with 20 points to 14 in the first quarter before another 21 to 10 in the second to go into half-time leading 41-24.

From there the Falcons retained control throughout the second half before securing the 18-point victory to improve to a 7-2 record with Saffron Shiels still to come in.

Nicole Munger produced another 20 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and three steals with Meg Jefferson putting up 21 points, five boards and three assists.

Sophie Brennan also had 11 points with 3/4 three-point shooting and Isabelle Burns added eight points and four rebounds, and Rose Bond eight points, four boards and three assists.

The Mustangs are now 3-6 with Shakera Reilly top scoring with 16 points with 4/9 three-point shooting while Kasey Neubert added 15 points and seven rebounds, and Jessalyn Finney 11 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Sydney Comets (51) lost to Manly Warringah Sea Eagles (80)

The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles continued the strong response to having their winning streak snapped by beating the Sydney Comets 80-51.

Last Saturday saw the Sea Eagles lose for the first time in 26 NBL1 East matches at the hands of the Bankstown Bruins only to hit back emphatically the next day against the Centre of Excellence.

They then arrived at Comets Stadium on Saturday looking to make another statement and the defending champions started on fire with 25 points to 12 in the first quarter.

It was another 20 points to nine in the second term with the Sea Eagles going into the half-time break leading 45-21.

Manly Warringah converted that into the 29-point victory to improve to a 9-1 record with Alex Delaney producing 19 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Bree Delaney added 14 points and nine rebounds, Zoey Miller 13 points, six boards, three assists and three blocks, Sari Mowbray 12 points and six rebounds, Josie Radan 12 points, nine boards and three assists, and Jayda Jansen seven points and seven rebounds.

The Comets are now 3-7 following the home loss with Mikayla Pirini finishing with 13 points and five rebounds with Eryn Fisher contributing 13 points and five boards, and Alexandra Kayrouz 10 points, five rebounds and three assists.

Canberra Nationals (53) lost to Bankstown Bruins (95)

The remarkable unbeaten run for the Bankstown Bruins with Shyla Heal continued with an authoritative 95-53 win over the Canberra Nationals on the road to make it seven straight wins, and 15 in-a-row with Heal.

The Bruins won all eight games last year that Heal played and now made it seven straight this season after a complete performance against the Nationals on Saturday in Tuggeranong.

Even with Caitie Jones playing her first game of the season for the Nationals having just returned from Germany, the home team had no answers for Bankstown who were on a six-game winning run including snapping the winning run of the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles last week.

Along the way, Bankstown led by as much as 52 points before winning by 42 while shooting 51 per cent for the game to 28 from Canberra along with going 11/24 at the three-point line to 3/22.

It was a dominant showing from Bankstown and Shyla Heal never needed to take over at any point, but still delivered 23 points, seven assists and six rebounds with 6/8 shooting from the floor, 4/5 from downtown and 7/10 from the foul line.

Shalome Dunlop also finished with 15 points and three rebounds with 3/5 three-point shooting, Kiahna Davis-White 13 points, 11 boards, two assists and two blocks, Tahlia Tupaea 13 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and four steals, and Margot De Freitas 11 points and five boards.

It was a tough night all-round for Canberra up against the red-hot Bankstown and not the Nationals debut Jones was hoping for having just arrived back from Germany on the back of the West Australian product having a standout first NBL1 East season in 2025 at the Albury Wodonga Bandits.

She finished with 16 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals while playing 33:39 of the game.

Callie Bourne also finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds and two steals, and Allison Day eight points, five boards and two assists.

Albury Wodonga Bandits (78) defeated Sutherland Sharks (54)

Emily Lytle put up 29 points and seven three-pointers to lead to the Albury Wodonga Bandits to the 78-54 home victory against the Sutherland Sharks.

The Bandits were back home at Lauren Jackson Sports Centre looking to snap a two-game losing slide with the Sharks had also lost their past couple.

It was just a two-point lead for Albury Wodonga by quarter-time before both teams scored 26 points apiece in the second term for the Bandits to be clinging to the 39-37 lead at half-time.

It was then a total domination from Albury Wodonga in the second half including 22 points to eight in the third period, and 17 to nine in the fourth on the way to the eventual 24-point victory.

The win improves the Bandits to a 4-5 record with Lytle starring with 29 points, 11 rebounds and two assists with 7/13 shooting from beyond the arc.

Unique Thompson also delivered 17 points, 15 rebounds, four steals and three assists, Kijana McCowan nine points, four steals and three boards, Timeeka Coleman seven points, and Melanie Kirby seven points and eight rebounds.

The Sharks are now 3-4 having lost three straight in the absence of Lauren Nicholson and Aliza Fabbro with Abi Curtin producing 18 points, three rebounds and two assists with Emily Garland adding 10 points and five boards, and Maddy Norris 10 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

SUNDAY

Penrith Panthers (36) lost to Centre of Excellence (72)

The Centre of Excellence restricted the Penrith Panthers to 19 points in the first 30 minutes including not a single field goal in the third quarter on the way to the 72-36 road win.

Both teams arrived at Hawkesbury Indoor Stadium having played on Saturday which saw the CoE beat the Hills Hornets by 11 points and the Panthers lost to the Illawarra Hawks at home by 12.

The Centre of Excellence then dominated the Sunday contest from the start holding Penrith to seven points in the first quarter and nine in the second to lead 34-16 by half-time with the Panthers only shooting 6/29 from the field.

Penrith then missed all 12 shot attempts in the third quarter with their three points only coming at the foul line and by three quarter-time the home team had just 19 points on the board.

They did score 17 in the last but the CoE still cruised to the 36-point victory even without having a great offensive display themselves.

The Centre of Excellence once again had plenty of players making a strong contribution with Eliza Shanahan finishing with 14 points and four rebounds with Aspen Crase adding 14 points, five boards and two steals.

Isabel Smith also had 12 points and four rebounds with Jay Sebasio contributing 10 points, nine boards, three assists and three steals, and Zara Russell eight points and four rebounds.

It was a rough afternoon at home for Penrith with Sofia Hunt finishing with 13 points and four rebounds with Chanel Bastin adding eight points, five boards, three assists and two steals, and Maria Garcia Leon seven points, 13 rebounds and two blocked shots.