West Spotlight | Senators take charge in second half

Featured image: Travis Anderson | @andmediaphoto

A spot in the top four of NBL1 West was up for grabs and with Chloe Forster and Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard combining for 41 points, the Warwick Senators took over in the second half for the 78-67 road win against the Goldfields Giants.

The Giants remained home at Kalgoorlie's Evolution Mining Stadium trying to bounce back from last week's loss to the defending champion Cockburn Cougars while the Senators arrived coming off a big win over the Joondalup Wolves.

The Senators did lose point guard Jayda Clark to a knee injury in that win and even with the encouraging news that she has just suffered bone bruising and not taken on any structural damage, she wasn’t out there for the clash with the Giants.

And the Giants were leading by three points at quarter-time and by seven at the half with front court pair Sierra Moore and Delaynie Byrne combining for 31 points.

But Warwick took charge from there outscoring Goldfields 38 points to 20 in the second half on 15/40 shooting with just the four turnovers but 11 offensive rebounds while the Giants shot just 6/28 as a team after half-time while having eight turnovers.

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The win improves the Senators to a 10-4 record to retain touch with the top two teams with Chloe Forster finishing with 21 points, six rebounds, four steals and three assists with 8/8 free-throw shooting.

Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard ended up with 20 points and seven rebounds with 6/11 shooting from downtown while Greta Kampschroeder contributed 13 points, nine boards and six assists, and Kyana Weir 13 points with 4/9 shooting from beyond the arc.

Kiara Waite also had four points and 12 rebounds, and Nat Burton four points and 13 boards.

The Giants remain outside the top four now at 7-5 with Delaynie Byrne finishing with 22 points and 12 rebounds with Sierra Moore adding 21 points, eight boards and five assists.

Chloe Zorzi added eight points and four rebounds, and Lexi Pana six points, 10 boards, three assists and three steals.

A spot in the top four went on the line in Kalgoorlie on Saturday night with Warwick leading by six early before Goldfields responded with a 12-0 run to open up their own six-point edge.

The Giants were leading 27-24 by the end of the opening quarter with Sierra Moore already up to 12 points with her team shooting 59 per cent from the field but the Senators stayed in touch with 6/12 three-point shooting including Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard going 3/5 for nine points.

The Giants then opened up an 11-point advantage in the second quarter and were still on top 47-40 by half-time with their imposing front court doing a lot of the heavy lifting with Moore scoring 17 points and partner-in-crime Delaynie Byrne up to 14.

Chloe Forster had 14 points for the Senators but as a team the visitors were just shooting 33 per cent opposed to the 51 from Goldfields.

Warwick then worked on top in the third quarter and they did score 18 points themselves, but held Goldfields to just the 10 points on the 3/16 shooting from the floor.

The Senators then also held the Giants to 10 points on 3/12 shooting in the last quarter as well with six turnovers and Warwick went on to score the 11-point win to maintain their hold on a top four position.

The Giants now hit the road next weekend for matches with the South West Slammers and Mandurah Magic while the Senators are back home on Friday night to host the Kalamunda Eastern Suns.

NBL1 WEST 2026 SEASON | ROUND 12

GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 67 (Byrne 22, Moore 21, Zorzi 8)

WARWICK SENATORS 78 (Forster 21, Clinch Hoycard 20, Kampschroeder 13, Weir 13)