By Lachlan Onions
WULANDA is once again the place to be on Friday night with the Mount Gambier Pioneers back in action for another home game.
The Pioneers women will kick-start proceedings when their clash with the Sandringham Sabres begins at 6pm.
This contest is a reverse fixture of the NBL1 South season-opener when the Pioneers took on the Sabres at the Southern Basketball Stadium.
On that occasion, it was a back and forth contest with Mount Gambier prevailing by just four points and judging by the way this season has gone, it would not be a surprise if another nail-biting encounter took place.
The Pioneers currently sit in fourth place on the ladder with six wins from nine games, while Sandringham occupies 10th place with five wins from 10.
Mount Gambier will once again look to Miela Goodchild as the focal point on the offensive end.
Goodchild heads into this clash off the back of an NBL1 South player of the week performance when she notched up 37 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and two steals against Waverley last Friday.
She has been in near-unstoppable form of late and is third in the competition for points per game with a monster 27.57 from her seven outings this season.
Goodchild has scored 30 points or more in her last three games and will be a dangerous player in the backcourt on Friday night.
While Goodchild has been the standout in the backcourt, Isabella Brancatisano has been a consistent performer and averages 17.56 points per game.
Brancatisano was at her best against Geelong two weeks ago when she scored an impressive 35 points.
In the paint, Keryl Ousey and Haliegh Reinoehl have had a greater impact with every week that passes and will need to be at their best to shut down Sandringham’s Georgia Pineau.
Pineau has averaged 19.5 points per game and posted 21 against the Pioneers in Round 1.
Mount Gambier will also need to limit the impact of Funda Nakkasoglu, who leads the way on the offensive end for the Sabres.
Nakkasoglu has scored 20.38 points per game and scored 22 against the Pioneers last time out.
The Pioneers will head into this clash as slight favourites after their impressive win over Waverley last week but Sandringham has enough talent to take it to Mount Gambier in what should be an entertaining battle.
