South West Slammers women’s side miss opportunity for rare win with 14-point loss to Goldfields Giants

South West Slammers women’s side missed a rare opportunity for a win with a 14-point loss to Goldfields Giants at Eaton Recreation Centre on Saturday night. The clash with the Giants, whose only other win of the season was in the reverse fixture in Kalgoorlie last month, presented as a huge chance for the team to break a losing streak which crosses the two-year mark on Tuesday, but they were left to rue an ice-cold offensive performance in a 58-44 defeat. Frustratingly for coach Jason Chalk, the margin would have been much tighter if his team’s issues at the foul line had not again come to the fore, with the Slammers able to make only seven of their 24 free throws. Import Yasmeen Smith led the Slammers in scoring with nine points but was one of the worst offenders in the struggle to score free points, making only one of her seven free throws. In what has been a consistent theme this season, the Slammers were again left to rue a glacial start, with the Giants taking a 10-point advantage into quarter-time. The Slammers turned up their defensive intensity after the first interval, limiting the visitors to only 36 points across the remaining three terms, but battled for offensive rhythm themselves, making only 17 of their 75 field goal attempts on the night — a paltry 22.67 per cent.