South West Slammers women’s side struggle in losses to Cockburn Cougars and Joondalup Wolves

The South West Slammers women’s outfit struggled over the course of their weekend double-header, going down to Cockburn Cougars and Joondalup Wolves by a combined margin of 96 points. Friday night’s season home opener at Eaton Recreation Centre saw the Slammers go down to the Cougars 101-45 before being beaten 85-45 by the Wolves at HBF Arena on Saturday. The Slammers were comfortably outclassed by the defending champion Cougars in the first fixture but had some bright spots, with import Yasmeen Smith (14 points) growing into the game, Zaya Black (10 points, seven rebounds, three assists, four steals) showing some quality and captain Lauren Vincent (eight points, five rebounds, two assists, three steals, two blocks) giving plenty of effort. Former Slammers player-coach Alex Ciabattoni was dominant for the Cougars, finishing with 26 points, including a personal 9-0 run in the third term where she nailed three consecutive three-pointers. Away on Saturday, Black (15 points, six rebounds, four assists) and Smith (13 points, five rebounds) backed up with another set of good performances but the visitors were no match for a Wolves side led by imports Sarah Toeaina (24 points, nine rebounds) and Darien Huff (19 points, six rebounds). The results leave the Slammers sitting in 12th spot on the 13-team competition’s ladder, ahead of the 0-2 Goldfields Giants on percentage.