NBL1 Round 3 vs West Adelaide Bearcats
Women
The Norwood Flames (1 – 1) take on the West Adelaide Bearcats (2 – 0) in round 3 of the NBL1 2025 season. The Flames are coming off an impressive win over the Southern Tigers and are looking to ride that momentum into this contest, looking to player of round 2 Amanda Paschal to help push them to win. Meanwhile, the Bearcats have had a great start to their season as they dominated their first two matchups, posting an impressive 42-point blowout win against South Adelaide.
The game started with both teams moving the ball very well. West Adelaide was struggling to convert on drives thanks to the strong help defence of the Flames, especially from Emily Saunders. Meanwhile, Norwood was able to find seams to the rim starting with an 8-0 run. Once the Bearcats took the lid of the basket they went on their own small run, bringing a lot more energy on defence and forcing Norwood into risky passes and a lot of turnovers. The defence of the Flames was still strong, but West Adelaide’s improved defence brought the Flames offence to a halt. This allowed the Bearcats to slowly take the lead. But Amanda Paschal took it back on an impressive euro-step and-1. The Flames team effort allowed Norwood to hold a lead going into quarter time, 19 – 17.
The second half brought a physical start to the quarter, both teams being stonewalled inside and struggling to get good opportunities. Norwood had the size advantage which allowed them to create scoring opportunities on kick-outs or drawing fouls inside. This slight advantage was enough for Norwood to break away early, a 7-point lead forcing West Adelaide into a quick timeout. The timeout didn’t interrupt the momentum of the Flames who found themselves with a double-digit lead off a triple from Sophie Kerridge, the lead growing to as much as 13. The Bearcats weren’t going away though. Despite the physicality and defence from Norwood, West Adelaide was able to find their paint scoring and bring the game back to single digits. Norwood kept their lead at halftime, 41 – 33.
The Bearcats came out of the break with a purpose, their defence shifting into another gear. This defence brought Norwood’s scoring to a halt a 3-minute drought to start the half. West Adelaide used this to bring the game back to a point, creating easy points of semi-transition, using mismatches to their advantage. Amanda Paschal answered with a timely three brining Norwood back to life Maddy Hinton draining another triple and a steal off the inbound from Kerridge. This burst of life didn’t take hold as West Adelaide was dominant on the boards, especially the o-boards, West taking back the lead with 3:30 to go in the period. Norwood wasn’t giving up as the two sides began trading baskets. The Bearcats mixture of energy on the boards and ball movement kept their momentum going. But Norwood found their rhythm from distance as Maddy Hinton drained two threes in a row taking the lead back just before 3-quarter time, 56 – 55.
The Flames opened the quarter with another important triple from Maddy Hinton. The Flames were executing well, creating good looks but unable to convert on their set plays. This kept the Bearcats close as they continued to capitalise on their stops, hitting their first three of the game tying the game up at 60-60. Norwood was still getting stops but struggled to find openings in West Adelaide’s defence, meanwhile the Bearcats were crashing the o-boards, generating extra possessions and giving themselves a slight edge. A massive triple from the Bearcats gave them a 5-point lead with 2:40 remaining, the Flames were desperate to find their offence again late. Before they could, West Adelaide hit a tough two but Amanda Paschal, hiding behind a screen on the other end, drained a tough triple. Norwood got another stop and Maddy Hinton hit another timely three, shearing the West Adelaide lead to just 1 with barely over a minute remaining. Another stop gave Norwood a chance to take the lead but a tough post entry to Emily Saunders resulted in a turnover with West Adelaide taking it the other way. West Adelaide missed one of their bonus free-throws but a turnover off the following inbound gave the Bearcats a chance to continue extending their lead. West missed their second free-throw but there was not enough time for Norwood to get a good look, as they lose in heartbreaking fashion, 72 – 75.
