ALTHOUGH the Perry Lakes Hawks fell by six points to the Warwick Senators in the NBL1 West Women’s at Bendat Basketball Centre on Friday night, Ellie Newman put together an excellent performance that was extremely encouraging.

The 22-year-old has been solid to start her fourth season in the NBL1, recording double-digits in the points column in two of her first five matches, and was coming off 11 points in her most previous outing with the Hawks.

The Senators struck the first blow with a strong first quarter where they dropped 25 points to take a seven-point lead into the opening change. However, Perry Lakes returned serve to flip it into a 10-point buffer into half time, before Warwick snatched momentum back once again to continue the see-sawing nature of the game. Although the Hawks tried hard to make a late run, they could not get the job done, falling just short.

Newman put forth her best performance of the 2025 season to date, almost leading her side to victory and showing how dangerous she can be from long-range.

Perry Lakes Hawks (75) def. by Warwick Senators (81)

Ellie Newman – 20 points, four rebounds, two assists

Although the result was not ideal from a team perspective, there is no denying the positive impact Newman had on the match and her performance was deserving of a win.

She had an important make early in the piece, steadying her team with a three-pointer after the Senators recorded the first nine points of the match. Although it was her only basket of the quarter, it was still crucial in the context of the game.

Newman set the tone early in the second period, nailing her second triple of the match to cut the deficit to four points. After the Hawks took the lead shortly after, the young gun nailed another two triples in the span of a couple of minutes to break the game open and help Perry Lakes to a hefty lead.

She nailed her fourth three-pointer with just over a couple of minutes to play in the half, boosting the Hawks’ buffer out to double-digits on the eve of the main change, and her sharpshooting was proving a big factor in the match.

Newman opened the second half showing her instinct for the game, following up a Perry Lakes miss and tipping the ball in, despite being surrounded by taller teammates and opponents. Her three-point shot did not fall in as easily in the third frame, but she still got herself involved on the glass.

Although she spent time on and off the bench for the Hawks in the final frame, which interrupted her flow in the game, Newman still nailed her sixth three-pointer of the match to bring the deficit back to three points with just over a couple of minutes on the clock. Although that was as close as Perry Lakes got, it still showed how important her long-range shooting can be.

Newman finished the contest with 22 points to her name, on 7/11 shooting from the field and 6/9 shooting from behind the arc. Having found her feet at NBL1 level, it was the kind of performance that suggests she could take a big step this season.