{"id":620838,"date":"2026-04-21T06:42:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T06:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/620838\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T06:42:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T06:42:08","slug":"hodges-leads-unbeaten-west-as-central-race-tightens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/620838\/","title":{"rendered":"Hodges leads unbeaten West as Central race tightens"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chloe Hodges leads unbeaten West Adelaide as Sturt matches pace and Round 5 shapes the NBL1 Central <\/p>\n

Chloe Hodges and West Adelaide are unbeaten, with Sturt right alongside them as the NBL1 Central women\u2019s race tightens after Round 5.<\/p>\n

West Adelaide and Sturt are both 5\u20130.<\/p>\n

They haven\u2019t slipped, and no one else has matched them yet. Right now, it\u2019s about who breaks first.<\/p>\n

West Adelaide is doing it with scoring and pressure. Sturt is doing it with control.<\/p>\n

The pack is still trying to settle<\/p>\n

Southern Tigers and South Adelaide sit at 3\u20132, with Forestville back to 3\u20133 after two wins.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no clear third team yet. That group is still sorting itself out.<\/p>\n

Win a couple, you move up. Drop one, you\u2019re back in it.<\/p>\n

West Adelaide sets the benchmark<\/p>\n

West Adelaide made the biggest statement of the round, beating Central Districts 106\u201361 to stay unbeaten.<\/p>\n

West Adelaide 106 def. Central Districts 61 \u2013\u00a0Watch the Replay<\/a><\/p>\n

West Adelaide set the tone early with 28 in the first quarter and never let it shift.<\/p>\n

Sienna Lehmann led with 20 points on efficient shooting, while Coco Hodges added 17 points and eight rebounds.<\/p>\n

The difference was across the board. Chloe Hodges finished with 16 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists and seven steals, controlling the game at both ends.<\/p>\n

West Adelaide finished with 51 rebounds and 16 steals, turning stops into scoring runs.<\/p>\n

Central Districts couldn\u2019t keep up, shooting 36.7% and turning it over 29 times.<\/p>\n

West Adelaide is controlling games from the start.<\/p>\n

Forestville steadied<\/p>\n

Forestville needed a response and got it, beating Central Districts 85\u201361 to back up its weekend and get back on track.<\/p>\n

Forestville 85 def. Central Districts 61 \u2013 Watch the Replay<\/a><\/p>\n

Forestville led 24\u201312 after the first quarter and controlled the game from there.<\/p>\n

Jessica Simons was the difference with 34 points, hitting 10 threes and stretching the floor all game.<\/p>\n

Inside, Sarah Boothe added 14 points on 5-from-6 shooting, while Sydney Hunter controlled the boards with 12 rebounds.<\/p>\n

Forestville finished with 24 assists and 48 rebounds, creating better shots and controlling tempo.<\/p>\n

Central Districts again struggled to contain runs, shooting 38.7% and turning it over 20 times.<\/p>\n

Forestville stopped the slide and found its rhythm again.<\/p>\n

Central Districts is under pressure<\/p>\n

At 1\u20135, Central Districts has taken two heavy losses.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re giving up points too easily and not getting stops when games turn.<\/p>\n

Bottom group needs something to change<\/p>\n

North Adelaide and Eastern Mavericks are both 1\u20134.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s time, but they need wins soon.<\/p>\n

What the round told usWest Adelaide and Sturt haven\u2019t slippedThe middle group is still openSome teams are already chasing<\/p>\n

You can see the split starting to form.<\/p>\n

Round 6 Watchlist \u2013 WomenGame of the RoundWest Adelaide Bearcats vs Norwood Flames<\/p>\n

West Adelaide is unbeaten.<\/p>\n

Norwood win = closes the gap
West win = keeps control<\/p>\n

Top vs chasing groupNorwood Flames vs Forestville Eagles<\/p>\n

Forestville just steadied.<\/p>\n

Win = stays in the mix
Loss = drops back<\/p>\n

Control Games\u200dEastern Mavericks vs Sturt SabresSturt Sabres vs Southern Tigers<\/p>\n

Sturt hasn\u2019t lost yet.<\/p>\n

Momentum vs responseCentral Districts vs South Adelaide<\/p>\n

Central needs a response.<\/p>\n

Round 6 QuestionsCan West Adelaide and Sturt stay unbeaten?Who becomes the clear third team?Can Forestville hold its form?Can Central Districts get stops?Which lower teams find a win?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chloe Hodges leads unbeaten West Adelaide as Sturt matches pace and Round 5 shapes the NBL1 Central Chloe…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":620839,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-620838","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-basketball","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=620838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620838\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/620839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=620838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=620838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=620838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}