West Spotlight | Bronson leads way in first Suns win

Featured image: Deacon Matthews | @deacs.jpg

Gaby Bronson set the tone early and the Eastern Suns delivered their first win of the season beating the South West Slammers 102-81 with Alyssa Bowen and Ella Averill also combining for 39 points and 17 rebounds.

The Suns played host to the Slammers at Ray Owen Sports Centre on Friday night hunting a first win of the season and they were right on track with 34 points in the first quarter with 15 of those courtesy of Bronson.

Marshaun Bostic and Bri Bailey fired the Slammers back into the contest in the second quarter, but the Eastern Suns took control again after half-time on the way to the 21-point win and first victory since July 17 last year.

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The Suns ended up pulling down 19 offensive rebounds for 19 second chance points and forcing the Slammers into 19 turnovers which helped them get up an extra 13 shots to improve to 1-3.

Gaby Bronson has been solid over the first three losses to start her time in the NBL1 with the Eastern Suns, but she went up another level to taste victory for the first time.

The combo guard delivered 27 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and three steals on 11/15 shooting from the field and 5/8 from the foul line while also pulling down four offensive boards.

Alyssa Bowen had 21 points across the first three games of 2026 but she matched that in one night with 21 in the victory with six rebounds and two assists while going 4/10 from behind the arc.

Ella Averill also had a season-best 18 points with 11 rebounds with five of those at the offensive end while Emma Strelein contributed nine points, four boards, four assists and three steals, and Jaymee Firkins eight points and three rebounds.

The Slammers are now 1-3 following the loss despite 27 points on 7/11 three-point shooting from Bri Bailey on her return to the NBL1 West after previous stints at the Perth Redbacks and East Perth Eagles.

Marshaun Bostic also provided 25 points, seven assists, five rebounds and five assists with Hana Lacey-Rameka contributing eight points, eight boards, two assists and two steals, and co-captains Bree Chalk and Javene Fitch six points apiece.

Both teams were looking for the morale boosting Friday night win and on their home floor it was the Eastern Suns who made a blistering start going on an 11-0 run in the first quarter to open up a 34-18 advantage by quarter-time.

That was on the back of the best quarter of Gaby Bronson's NBL1 career to date with 15 points while her team shot 64 per cent from the field with 13 free-throw attempts to the 45 per cent shooting from the Slammers with just one foul shot and five turnovers.

The game underwent quite the transformation in the second quarter with South West getting right back into the contest by putting up 24 points and Marshaun Bostic rising to the challenge in her import guard battle with Bronson.

She had 16 points, four rebounds and five assists by half-time with Bri Bailey hitting three triples for 11 points and that helped the Slammers cut the Suns' lead back to just seven at half-time.

The momentum swings continued with Kalamunda taking charge once again in the third stanza and that included another 8-0 run to see the home team's advantage get out to 20 points.

The Eastern Suns ended up outscoring the Slammers 29 to 14 in the quarter and the lead was 20 by three quarter-time.

Both teams combined for 51 points in the last quarter and the Suns cruised to the opening win of the season to the tune of 21 points.

The Eastern Suns now have a week until trying to make it back-to-back wins when they take on the Lakeside Lightning next Friday while the Slammers face the Willetton Tigers on the road that same evening.

NBL1 WEST 2026 SEASON | ROUND 4

KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 102 (Bronson 27, Bowen 21, Averill 18)

SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 81 (Bailey 27, Bostic 25, Lacey-Rameka 8)