STACEY Barr led the way with 30 points, and the Willetton Tigers women held off a tough challenge from the Perth Redbacks at Willetton Basketball Stadium on Friday night, winning 71-67 and keeping a slim chance of a top-four finish alive with three weeks remaining until finals.
The contest was close throughout, with both teams unable to gain much of a lead for most of the evening, but a clutch three-pointer from Barr with 2:01 left in the fourth quarter gave the Tigers a 65-60 lead to help them hang on for the important victory.
Barr, who also scored Willetton’s final nine points of the game, was well supported by Jessica Hootmann who tallied 14 points, while Sam Norwood showed encouraging signs by chipping in with 10 points and five rebounds in just her third game back from a long-term injury.
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READ NOWEmma Gandini finished with eight points, while Emma Lobb had an excellent night on the boards, picking up 14 rebounds to go with four points and two steals in a celebration of her recent 250 game milestone.
For the Redbacks, Emilie Harmon top-scored with 14 points, while Lisa Wallbutton and Bianca Donovan added 10 each. Gabriella Turner didn’t have her normal output for the visitors, adding just four points.
Afterwards, Barr gave her thoughts on the match and what helped the Tigers get the win.
“Our turnovers, I think we had quite a few in the first half, so we minimised those, and then in the second half we had a couple of mental lapses where we let them get ahead of us, but I think just staying together as a team was really what got us over the line.”
After another 30 point performance – one of many this season – Barr also spoke about how she sees her own game right now.
“Yeah pretty happy with my game, I think sometimes I get a bit ahead of myself and take some silly shots, so that’s always a work in progress, but as long as we’re winning I’m happy with my game” she said.
The win moves Willetton to 11-8 for the season, keeping them in fifth place, with a top-four finish still mathematically possible if they are able to win all three of their remaining games. In that scenario, they’d also need the fourth placed Stirling Senators to drop at least two, possibly all three, of their remaining games to move past them.
Top four or not, the Tigers will be happy to have picked up another win despite still being without Kate Malpass and Des Kelley, both of whom are overseas.
Youngsters Carla Drennan and Rebecca Thomson continue to play increased minutes in their absence, and both are growing in confidence and finding ways to contribute. Drennan had four points, picked up three steals and did a good job defending Redbacks shooter Gabriella Turner, while Thomson continues to look more confident as a point-guard calling plays.
Kelley will return for the Tigers final regular season game against Lakeside, while Malpass also looks set to return before the finals to boost the line-up for their title defence.
“It’ll be nice to have Des and Kate back in the team, it brings back a bit of leadership, a couple of older players that have been around, and I think that’s going to help the younger players continue to develop.
“I think if we can finish strong and get three wins going into finals it’s really going to boost the team morale and our confidence going forward,” Barr said.
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