West Spotlight | Magic prevail to stay in top four hunt

Featured image: @hyperfocusimages | Michael Bailey

The Goldfields Giants will now face a nervous wait after losing superstar forward Sierra Moore to injury while the Mandurah Magic got another triple double from Mikayla Pivec and welcomed back Mia Jacobs in the 91-79 Sunday win.

The two teams arrived at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre trying to stay in the top four hunt with the Magic making their lone appearance of Round 13 while the Giants started their road double beating the South West Slammers on Saturday by 33 points.

That had both teams on identical 8-5 records coming into the match up and it was just a two-point lead for Mandurah early in the fourth quarter when Moore suffered what appeared an ankle injury when driving to the basket.

Her afternoon was over as a result and the Magic ended up leading by nine points by half-time on the back of that before going up by as much as 22 points in the second half on the way to the eventual 12-point win.

The result improves Mandurah to a 9-5 record to stay in top four contention with Goldfields now 8-6 having split their double header weekend on the road.

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Having added in Mikayla Pivec and Jordan Reisma now, the Magic also welcomed back Mia Jacobs with that trio playing together for the first time and the signs were exciting for what the rest of the season holds in the win over the Giants.

Even though the Magic shot just 37 per cent from the field, they did knock down 14/37 from downtown and 19/25 at the foul line while having 20 offensive rebounds and forcing the Giants into 14 turnovers in the eventual win.

Pivec produced her fourth triple double already in 10 games this season with Mandurah by ending up with 14 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists.

Claire Jacobs top scored with 22 points, four assists and three rebounds, Sharn Hayward 20 points and five assists with 6/12 three-point shooting, the returning Mia Jacobs 11 points, 10 boards and three steals, and Jade Gowland nine points, seven rebounds and two assists.

Sierra Moore only played the 11 minutes before injuring her ankle but still had 11 points and three rebounds while Hazelle Yam ended up top scoring with 19 points and six assists.

Delaynie Byrne ended up with 12 points, 11 rebounds, two assists and two steals despite going 2/16 from the field with Lexi Pana contributing 11 points and seven rebounds with Jemma Gatti adding 10 points, five board and two steals.

Rachel Pettit was also back on her old home floor and had 10 points, eight rebounds and three assists in the 243rd game of her career.

The Magic were playing their only game of the weekend while the Giants were on the back end of a road double having beaten the South West Slammers the night before, and with both teams trying to break into the top four, plenty was at stake.

Mandurah scored the game's first five points before Goldfields responded with the next 11 points before the Magic closed the opening term with 10 straight points including three-pointers to Mia Jacobs and Sharn Hayward to be leading 26-24.

The game then took a turn for the Giants early in the second quarter when superstar forward injured an ankle when driving to the basket and her afternoon was done, and things got decidedly tougher for her team.

With Hayward up to 14 points, the Magic had opened up a 47-38 lead by half-time with Moore still the top score for Goldfields with 11 despite not playing the last eight minutes.

Mandurah then had another 29 points to 21 in the third quarter with the lead getting out to 22 points and they went on to score the 12-point victory to be building some ominous form now with their full squad available.

The Giants now return home in what is a must-win affair with the East Perth Eagles on Saturday night if they want to stay in the top four hunt while the Magic remain at home also on Saturday against the Warwick Senators in another tantalising match up.

NBL1 WEST 2026 SEASON | ROUND 13

MANDURAH MAGIC 91 (C Jacobs 22, Hayward 20, Pivec 14)

GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 79 (Yam 19, Byrne 12, Pana 11, Moore 11)