AUS - Grima wins Nivea player of the week

MELBOURNE (WNBL) - Nature’s Blend Bulleen Melbourne Boomers forward Hollie Grima has been named the Nivea Player of the Week for Round 7 of the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) after leading the Boomers to consecutive road wins and posting back-to-back double-doubles.

The world champion defencejobs Opal led all scorers in Friday night’s 89-64 win over Perth, tallying 31 points with 13 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 assist and a blocked shot on 10-of-14 shooting.

She then backed it up with 24 points, 11 rebounds and 2 assists in Bulleen’s 77-64 win over the AIS on Sunday afternoon.

This is Grima’s second Nivea Player of the Week award this season, having earned the honour in Round 3.

Grima averages 20.3 points per game and is the league leader in points per game alongside Dandenong’s Jenna O’Hea.

"I am pretty happy with the way I am going so far this season and we are happy we got the two wins and kept our position in the top four," Grima said.

"I have been consistent and I want to keep that going for the second half of the season.

"We have been successful against teams below us but we want to be able to beat the teams that are going to be finals contenders."

Bulleen take on high flyers Sydney Uni at the Veneto Club this Friday night and Grima said she is looking forward to the challenge.

"We lost to them last time and we were disappointed with the way we played and at the moment they are the form team in the league," she said.

"I am sure we will have a lot to chat and go through how we can stop them."

The other noteworthy performances of Round 7 were:

DANDENONG: Larissa Cavanagh posted a 26 point, 11 rebound double-double and in doing so registered her 2000th career point for Dandenong. Jenna O’Hea added 12 points and 6 rebounds.

BULLEEN: Karen Ashby tallied 16 points and 6 rebounds, Sharin Milner 16 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists and Desiree Glaubitz 14 points, 4 rebounds and 10 assists against Perth. Against the AIS, duo Sharin Milner and Karen Ashby bagged 11 points each with Desiree Glaubitz and Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe adding 10 points each.

TOWNSVILLE: Renae Camino bagged a 17 point, 12 rebound double-double, while four other players - Rachael Flanagan (12 points), Rohanee Cox (11 points), Jennifer Crouse (10 points) and Tania Heritage (10 points) - netted double figures.

SYDNEY UNI: Natalie Porter top scored with 15 points and 7 rebounds while Alicia Poto and Michelle Musselwhite each contributed 13 points. Mikaela Dombkins scored 12 points.

ADELAIDE: In the Lightning’s win over Townsville, starters Tracey Gahan (21 points and 12 rebounds), Kristen Rasmussen (19 points and 7 rebounds), Jessica Foley (19 points and 4 rebounds) and Erin Phillips (18 points and 6 rebounds) posted 77 of the team’s 86 points. Against Sydney Uni, Foley led all scorers with 23 points and 6 rebounds, while a determined Phillips repeated her Friday night performance with another 18 point, 6 rebound effort.

PERTH: Forward Carly Wilson continued her excellent season by posting 28 points with 4 rebounds, 2 blocked shots and a steal against her former club, Dandenong. She followed that up with 19 points and 7 rebounds against Bulleen. Zoe Carr added 15 points and 9 rebounds against Bulleen and Angela Marino contributed 13 points against Dandenong.

AIS: Cayla Francis netted 15 points with 3 rebounds against Canberra and Kate Ebzery contributed 10 points and 5 rebounds. Mia Newley scored 13 points and Louella Tomlinson 9 points and 7 rebounds.

Basketball Australia