The fourth-placed Hawks travel to play fifth-placed Newcastle Falcons on Saturday night before backing up the next day away to Maitland Mustangs.

Illawarra (9-3) head into the road double on the back of back-to-back victories but without point guard Ella Dent and fellow experienced player Maddie Delaney.

Hawks coach Tom Cranney said missing players was far from ideal but his team had shown in the past it could cope with adversity.

"It is going to be tough, we are a little undermanned, we are missing a couple of players so that always adds to the challenge, but we've faced adversity all year and the girls always seem to respond. It will certainly be a challenge but I'm confident they can rise to the occasion," he said.

"We've got a deep team. It will be the next man up mentality. We will bring some new players into the line up, they will have to play bigger roles and bigger minutes but I've got every confidence that they can do that and be really good for us."

Read more: Matildas' pain for World Cup gain: Timpano

Illawarra bounced back to form with a 85-62 home victory over the Hills Hornets last Saturday.

But the Hawks struggled for most of the first quarter at The Snakepit before somehow working their way back into the contest and taking a one-point lead into the second quarter.

Illawarra though dominated the rest of the game, including scoring 10 consecutive points in the second period to see their lead grow to 15 as they headed into the half-time interval leading 49-34.

The Hawks' lead blew out at one stage to as much as 26 points after a 12-0 run in the fourth period before securing the eventual 85-62 victory.

Georgia Ohrdorf led the charge in the win for Illawarra with 21 points to go with eight rebounds and two steals on 7/12 shooting from the floor and 7/8 from the free-throw line.

Tyler Scaife was also impressive adding 20 points, six rebounds, four steals and three assists, while Georgia Chrystal-Foy had 11 points, five boards, five assists and two blocked shots, and Asha Phillips contributed 10 points, four boards and two assists.

"We had a really good win on the weekend," Cranney said.

"I think having the little break for the long weekend helped us. We were able to get a bit of rest and refocus for this tough stretch of the season ahead."

Read more: Illawarra football clubs joining forces for a common goal

Illawarra men's NBL1 East team also play league leaders Newcastle (9-3) on Saturday before backing up the next day away to Maitland Mustangs (7-6).

The third-placed Hawks (8-5) head into the double-header having won their last-start clash against Hills Hornets 75-62.

Former 217-game NBL veteran Lucas Walker put up 26 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, three steals and three blocked shots in an outstanding all-round performance for the Hawks in the win.

We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on the Illawarra Mercury website.

Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. Sign up for a subscription here.