The Australian NBL1 Conferences are at the sharp end of the season and a number of current and former Tall Ferns have been making their mark on proceedings.
Mary Goulding has enjoyed a remarkable season in the Western Conference with East Perth Eagles where she has led the conference in both scoring and rebounding. Her averages are a stunning 24 points and 13.6 boards per game!
The Cantabrian bettered those numbers in the NBL1 West semi-final this past weekend ammasing 32 points, 15 rebounds, 5 steals and 2 assists, but it wasn’t enough for a grand-final berth as they lost 80-79 to the Warwick Senators.
Also on the wrong side of a semi-final score line was Jordan Hunter and the South Adelaide Panthers in NBL1 Central. Hunter came up with 8 points and a game-high 7 assists in the 82-70 loss to the Southern Tigers.
The Tigers advance directly to the grand final whilst Hunter and the Panthers will battle the North Adelaide Rockets tomorrow (Sat 4 September) – the winners book a spot in the final in two weeks’ time.
There was better news from Queensland where a bunch of Ferns have booked places in NBL1 North semi-finals.
The Southern District Spartans have three New Zealand internationals on their roster and all played a part in the comfortable 108-83 quarter-final win against the Northside Wizards.
Kalani Purcell posted 11 points and added 8 rebounds, sister Nat Taylor notched 10 points and Ash Karaitiana scored 9.
The Logan Thunder embarrassed the Brisbane Capitals 87-29. Chev Paalvast scored 6 points for the Thunder with Brooke Blair managing 7 points for the Capitals. Ashley Taia, named to the Tall Ferns extended squad ahead of the Asia Cup, came up with 9 points and 4 assists for the victors.
Logan will face the Townsville Fire in the semis this weekend after the Flames licked the Gold Coast Rollers 75-44. Micaela Cocks was in hot shooting form for the Fire making 4 from 9 three-point attempts on her way to a game-high 23 points.
