Warrnambool Mermaids coach Lee Primmer finds positives in loss while debutant shines for Seahawks

The Big V division one women's side fell behind early but clawed back to even up the contest across the remaining three periods of the game.

Primmer said it was disappointing to not walk away with the win but insisted there was plenty of positive learnings to come out of it.

"There was certainly more positives than negatives from our point of view - they're the top side, unbeaten and had an American point guard (Ariel Hearn) who had 27 points who was outstanding," he said.

"From playing them, we had our opportunities, but we're five games into the season with a new bunch of personnel so each game we're getting a bit more accustomed to the better players, we've got a girl coming down from Geelong (Olivia Fuller) and she was outstanding, had 20 points and 16 rebounds."

While acknowledging wins were important, Primmer said it was important to look at the bigger picture.

"We're starting to gel each time we play and obviously we don't win championships at the start of the year it's how you close out the year, and that's how we're looking at it," he said.

"In the same sentence you can't drop too many early, we're two wins and three losses and one loss by five and one by four.

"We're set up in the next three weeks to find out where we're at, but as far as I'm concerned we took far more positives out of (Saturday) night."

The Seahawks, meanwhile, soared to a commanding 77-55 win in Big V division one men against Collingwood to square up the ledger at three wins, three losses.

Coach Alex Gynes said it was a gritty win and the type of game his side want to be renowned for.

"It was a physical battle, the scoreline doesn't do it justice in the first half, they were aggressive defensively but we stuck to it and started to open up the game," he said.

"Everyone is starting to get a feel for it individually and how we want to play as a team.

"There's a lot of confidence in the group which is exciting."

MORE SPORT

Gynes - who dropped 24 points and 10 rebounds on the night - said aggression on defence was the key to the result.

"Any time you hold a team to 55 points is fantastic," he said.

"Offensively we were a big stagnant at times but our defensive intent was definitely the key."

Individually, the former Sydney Kings rookie praised debutant Ashley Keen for his promising performance off the bench, while Ollie Bidmade was vital and had 11 rebounds.

"Ollie defended their best player and held him to 14 points which was great and Ash was fantastic, he's been training really well and we couldn't leave him out and he certainly took his opportunities," he said.

"Riley Nicolson is the other one who had some important minutes and was on the floor when we started to chip away. He's potent on the defensive end."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content:

Now just one tap with our new app: Digital subscribers now have the convenience of faster news, right at your fingertips with The Standard:

Have you signed up to The Standard's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in the south-west.