AMERICAN import Nicole Munger out-scored Inner West Bulls all by herself then backed up with another inspirational performance against Norths Bears to help Newcastle Falcons win both legs of their NBL1 East Conference road double-header in Sydney at the weekend.
The Pennsylvania powerhouse poured in a season-high 53 points in Newcastle's 110-49 dismantling of the winless Bulls at Ryde on Saturday night, then followed up with a game-high 25 points as the Falcons edged Norths 77-71 at the Bear Cave on Sunday.
Extending their winning streak to four, the fourth-placed Falcons improved their win-loss record to 13-5 to keep the pressure on second-placed Norths (14-4) and third-placed Sutherland (13-4) in the race for a top-two finish and a guaranteed spot in finals weekend on August 27-28.
Newcastle's last two games of the regular season are against Norths at home and Sutherland away on August 13 and 14 respectively.
Munger's half-century haul against the Bulls was the most by any NBL1 East player this season, in either the women's or men's division, and she added seven rebounds, six steals and five assists in what amounted to little more than a training run for the Falcons.
In a remarkable shooting performance, Munger made 14 of 16 field-goal attempts (87.5%) and hit six of nine (66.7%) from three-point range.
Chyra Evans also stuffed the stat sheet against Inner West, amassing 24 points, six rebounds, six steals, three assists and three blocked shots, and captain Megan Johnson added 16 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals.
The result was never in doubt after Newcastle raced out to a 40-10 lead by quarter-time, and they extended that to 57-17 by the long break.
The Falcons had a tougher assignment against Norths on Sunday, when the Bears clawed out a 42-39 half-time lead after a topsy-turvy first two quarters.
Newcastle turned the defensive screws in the third period, outscoring the home team 22-7 to take a 61-49 lead into the final term. Norths closed to within four points late in the fourth quarter, but the Falcons kicked again to build an 11-point buffer.
Apart from her 25 points, Munger added 12 rebounds, four assists and four steals to almost certainly secure her second NBL1 Player of the Week award in the space of three weeks.
Young guns Emily Foy (17 points, six rebounds, four assists) and Kate Kingham (eight points, three rebounds, two assists) made big shots when it mattered for Newcastle, and Evans contributed 10 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots.
The weekend trip to Sydney's northern suburbs was much less enjoyable for Newcastle's men's team, going down 98-61 to Inner West on Saturday night and 76-69 to Norths on Sunday.
The Falcons, who led the league a month ago, have lost four straight and five of their past six to slip to fifth with an 11-8 record, trailing Canberra (14-5), Norths (13-7), Illawarra (11-7) and Maitland (11-7) with three games to play against last-placed Bankstown (5-14), Norths and sixth-placed Sutherland (10-9).
Little went right against Inner West on Saturday night as the Falcons could not buy a basket while the Bulls consistently hit the mark from inside and out.
Newcastle hit just four of 28 three-point attempts, compared to the Bulls' strike rate of 15 from 32, and overall, the Falcons could only manage 34.3% from the field against Inner West's 48.7%.
Matur Maluach led the Falcons with 19 points, Myles Cherry had 15 points and five rebounds, and Ryan Beisty tallied 10 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
Newcastle made more of a contest of their game against Norths on Sunday, but it was still not enough against one of the competition's heavyweights.
Norths led 20-17 after the first quarter and 40-33 by halftime, extending their lead to 16 points midway through the third period, but the Falcons responded with a 13-0 run to cut the deficit to 58-55 late in the quarter.
There was a similar theme to the fourth quarter as the Bears looked like blowing the game open only for the Falcons to fight back. Cherry's lay-up with 47 seconds to go trimmed the margin to 73-69 but that proved to be Newcastle's final scoring play.
Beisty top-scored for Newcastle with 19 points, 14 rebounds, six assists and three steals, Cherry posted a 15-point, 15-rebound double-double, and Maluach added 15 points, three rebounds and three assists.
