Round 3 – Alice brings Wonderland for Women, Waatu continue winning ways to complete historic home double

United at the SBC - A first home game at the new State Basketball Centre set the scene for the home opener - Photo supplied by Adelaide Uni Sports and Recreation  

Alice brings Wonderland for Women

The Waatu Women had a win last Wednesday as they won only their second game in existence and first ever home win with a thrilling 75-71 result at their new venue the State Basketball Centre.   

It was driven by a phenomenal third quarter by Norwood Flame Alice Sabine (Medicine) who found chemistry with fellow Flame Jemima Whitton (Viticulture and Oenology) and Warrior Georgia Winter (Veterinary Technology) to produce a 24-11 third term.

It began with the away side with Maali through Jenna Teasdale opening proceedings with an impressive eight points and six rebounds, a team rebound count of 10-18 and a 15 point margin at 4-19. The fightback started just over halfway through the quarter as Winter (eight points) drew the margin back to 10-23 after one. 

The second was much closer with Sabine beginning to insert herself into the game with multiple second chances created through controlling the glass with a turnaround of 14-9 on the boards to bring it back to 24-27. Whitton with sharp hands also blended together the offence to bring it back to 28-42 at the half.

That’s when Sabine sparkled for the start of the third quarter. She reeled off ten points, eight rebounds with four offensive boards dished continuously by Whitton with four assists. Both along with their Waatu teammates stopped Teasdale and the other Maali bigs – but Teasdale and her co-captain Zoe Shanahan managed to keep them from conceding the lead holding onto it just 52-53 with one to play. 

The final term was full of nervous tension for the home side but also the chance to create some history with Central Districts Lions Meaza Otto (Health and Medical Science) going head to head with a cameo from Maali’s Caitlin Lea. Otto’s eight final quarter points along with Winter who consistently kept the scoreboard ticking over gave the Waatu the lead for a total of 1:59 in the game. The ability to shutdown Teasdale and Ruby Hamilton ultimately proved the catalyst as Otto and Winter calmly slotted free throws to seal the result. 

Sabine was superb and narrowly missed out on the New Balance UBL player of the week with 23 points with a perfect 8/8 from the stripe, 21 rebounds (eight offensive) and eight assists, Winter not far behind with 24 points and five rebounds no doubt leading the way for the club MVP early in the season. Whitton nearly notched a triple double with eight points, seven rebounds (four offensive) and six assists. The Waatu wrestled the rebound count back 53-40 (a 43-22 turnaround) in the finish and grabbed 21 assists.  

It was an impressive coaching performance from Scott Freer and his coaching team to turn the game at halftime the way they did. The Women next take on the Zoe Banks and Hope Brooks led UTAS this Wednesday in a first UBL trip to the “Island”.               

RD 3 Women AU Waatu 75 (Winter 24, Sabine 23, Otto 10, Whitton 8) defeated UWA Maali 71 (Teasdale 22, Hall 10, Hamilton, Shanahan 8)

Waatu continue winning ways to complete historic home double 

The Waatu Men buoyed by the previous result took all momentum into their clash and despite a small comeback in the late third quarter – proved too strong as they went 3-1 in the season 108-94 in a convincing home performance at their new venue the State Basketball Centre. 

Minus Norwood Flame Darcy McNamara (Education) – Emil Kourani (Occupational Therapy) got the scoreboard moving once again with some early hits (eight in the opening quarter) and then got some great assistance from West Adelaide Bearcat Harry Bruce (Commerce) and Central Districts Lions Ayual Garang (Architecture) with nine points a piece as they dealt out the business in the opening term 30-22. 

The scoring was free flowing and with Bruce mastering all on the floor (10 points for the quarter) and Garang continuing to build on his numbers (fours points and three assists) – the Waatu answered all the challenges from the Maali. Even Sam Davies (Nursing) with six points and Bailey Nathan (Computer Science) applied degrees of pressure at both ends to surround Kourani’s seven for the term. The Waatu with a compelling 67-54 lead at the half shooting the ball at 62 percent.

The Waatu continued their dominance through Garang and Kourani who pushed the margin out to its biggest lead of 24 points. A small turn around from the Maali saw them back within slight striking distance thanks to Ben Thorp and East Perth Eagle Joe Harwood that gave the away side a glimmer with an 86-72 scoreline leading into the fourth. 

Bailey Nathan helped close it out with 11 points in the final term to go near his career high of 24 points with the Maali’s first match best Korede Oyemade with 12 points in the final term to put some wallpaper over cracks as the Waatu sealed their third win of the season and a historic double for the club.

It was hard to split the impact of the Waatu as several got the job done with Harry Bruce leading the way with 23 points, seven rebounds and four assists but with numbers that did not tell of the influence he had on the court. Ayual Garang was the stats sheet stuffer with 21 points at 75 percent from the field, 11 rebounds and seven assists and Kourani was the sharpest shooter of the afternoon with 25 points at a high clip of 50 percent. Add to that Nathan’s 20 points, eight rebounds and four assists, Issac Hampel engineering seven points and eight rebounds – it was an impressive set of numbers from the Scott Freer led Waatu.

Harwood was strong for the Maali with 21 points and six rebounds while Oyemade did finish with some big numbers in the second half of 19 points and 13 rebounds. The Waatu travel to the “Island” to take on UTAS for the first time and will have to deal with the likes of Alex Bestwick and Zach Collins who have taken out multiple POTW’s as well as famous sons of NBL names such as Nash and Bruton.                      

RD 3 Men AU Waatu 108 (Kourani 25, Bruce 23, Garang 21, Nathan 20, Davies 10, Hampel 7) defeated UWA Maali 94 (Harwood 21, Oyemade 19, Thorp 14, Morgan 15, Barrett 11)

Catch the Waatu’s fourth round games this week against University of Tasmania (UTAS) on Wednesday on Uni Sports TV from 11:30am.

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