UNBEATEN sides, McKinnon Cougars and Chelsea Gulls will face off in Round 2 of the Big V Championship Women’s competition as matches tip off from tomorrow night. Both sides are coming off first-up wins with Chelsea toppling Wyndham by 11 points at home upon their return to the top flight competition, whilst McKinnon took care of the other newcomers, Pakenham Warriors by 24 points. Now back at home at GESAC for a second consecutive week, McKinnon will look to use the home crowd advantage to get on top of the Gulls.

McKinnon had plenty of contributors, with all nine players who got caught time picking up five-plus points in the 79-55 Round 1 victory over the Warriors. Rosie Fadljevic lead from the front with 16 points, nine rebounds and three assists, whilst Katie Bluzer (12 points, six rebounds and five assists) contributed on both ends. Between them they were a long-range shooting three, scoring six of 15 from beyond the arc.

The Cougars easily won the rebounds (53-41) and assists (22-14), with 12 more shots from the field. They could have been more accurate though, shooting at just 37.7 per cent from the field. They did put up a high portion of three-point attempts, which contributed to the lower overall field goal percentage, but still managed to nail one third of them. The contribution off the bench – which totalled 24 points from four players – was highlighted by a hue effort from Claire Ioannidis (seven points, eight rebounds and six assists) in 23 minutes on court. Morgan Ili (nine points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals) had a similar impact throughout the game.

Chelsea also won the rebounds (49-44) and assists (19-9), with a higher shooting percentage of 39.2 per cent against Wyndham. By comparison they opted to shoot from higher percentage looks, with a 42.4 per cent efficiency from inside the arc, and 34 more shots taken from that range compared to outside the arc (20 shots at 30 per cent). Picking up a game-high 20 points, Lee Burch also clocked up seven rebounds and four assists, teaming up well with Tamara Booth (three points, 12 rebounds) off the boards. Sammie Simmonds (17 points, nine rebounds) was influential coming off the bench, hitting seven of 10 for the match. Sarsha Cadle (nine points, 11 rebounds) was the other star off the boards.

Chelsea will look to more contribution from its depth this season, with just three points and three rebounds contributed off the bench outside of Simmonds, though granted the four other players combined for six and a half minutes. It will be a bi ask for the Gulls to step up and take down the Cougars, particularly at GESAC, but it looms as a great challenge to see just where the Gulls are at this season.

In other fixtures, bottom three sides Wyndham and Pakenham will search for their first victories when they lock horns with Round 1 winners, Sunbury and Bulleen on the road respectively tomorrow. Then the clashes get a little easier when the sides double up and return home against fellow Round 1 losers, Southern Peninsula Sharks and Hume City Broncos.

WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 2 FIXTURES:

Saturday, March 26:

Sunbury vs. Pakenham | Boardman Stadium @ 6pm
McKinnon vs. Chelsea | GESAC @ 6pm
Bulleen vs. Wyndham | East Doncaster Secondary College @ 8pm

Sunday, March 27:

Wyndham vs. Southern Peninsula | Eagle Stadium @ 1pm
Pakenham vs. Hume | Cardinia Life @ 2pm