ROUND 8 of the NBL1 Central Women’s season for 2023 delivered some big team and individual performances, as another batch of games went in the book.

In the final match of the weekend, the Woodville Warriors headed to the STARplex to take on the Central Districts Lions on Sunday afternoon, with both sides sustaining losses earlier in the round. The Warriors had shown promising signs in the first seven weeks of the season, but struggled with inconsistency, while the Lions were still searching for a maiden win.

Although Central Districts would have liked to get on the board for 2023 on its home deck, the Warriors burst out of the gates and set up a strong win. The Lions simply could not match Woodville’s production on the offensive end, winning just one of the four quarters and struggling to find consistent avenues to scoring. The Warriors overcame a third-quarter fightback from the opposition to emerge nine-point winners.

The performance of frontcourt gun Nicole Fransson was one of the biggest talking points out of the match, with the big playing a crucial role in getting Woodville to its fourth win of the 2023 season.

Central Districts Lions (71) def. by Woodville Warriors (80)

Nicole Fransson – 28 points, 17 rebounds, one assist, one steal

Fransson was the best player on the court in Woodville’s crucial win, standing up with a towering performance to ensure her side got over the line. She was the match’s leading scorer with 28 points, taking the most attempts of any Woodville player. Of Fransson’s 20 field goal attempts, 12 found the bottom of the net in a reasonably accurate performance.

All 12 made field goals were from two-point territory, going to work in the paint and finding the bottom of the net more often than not. She was also perfect from the free throw line, nailing all four of her shots from the charity stripe.

It comes as no surprise that Fransson’s 17 rebounds were also a game-high figure, given her dominance in controlling the glass. The most impressive factor of this number is the amount of rebounds that came on the offensive end.

Fransson pulled down eight boards after Woodville misses, generating plenty of her own offence as second-chance scores. It was a key factor in getting the Warriors to a winning score.

It was a vital win for Woodville, keeping its season alive on the back of some excellent play from Fransson inside the paint across all four quarters.