14/01/06 SOUTHEND SWIFTS 66 UNIVERSITY OF WALES IN CARDIFF (UWIC) STEALERS 82 Southend Swifts welcomed UWIC Stealers for a quarter final tie in the womens senior National Trophy, a competition open to all clubs outside of the first division of the National League. Each team had recorded a home victory in the meetings between the teams earlier in the season, with Stealers currently joint top in the league standings. Swifts took an early 7-2 lead, but with both sides scoring well the lead was never greater than three. After eight minutes the hosts seemed to have made a crucial break as they scored six straight to move out to 24-19 but disappointing foul shooting allowed UWIC to recover and trail just 25-23 at the end of the first quarter. A three-point play from Kelly Matthews took Southend 30-27 ahead but UWIC's pressure defence was beginning to cause the home side some problems and they moved ahead at 36-32. Abi Dempsey brought it back to two before former Swift Sarah Wagstaff hit a Hail Mary three-pointer on the half time buzzer to give the Welsh side a 39-34 half time lead. The visitors continued their ascendancy with the first eight points of the third period and they maintained their double digit advantage despite excellent work from Dempsey and Fran Hitt who combined for 12 of their teams 14 points as UWIC held a 59-48 lead going into the final quarter. Lapses in defensive concentration allowed the margin to extend to 67-52 before a change in defensive formation gave Swifts a 9-4 run that gave a glimmer of hope at 71-61. But the visitor's greater experience allowed them to weather the storm and they ended up comfortable winners by 82 points to 66. Dempsey 27, Hitt 14 and Matthews 11 the only Swifts players able to score with any conviction on the day. 03/12/05 Colchester 55 Solent 45 After last weeks trip to Plymouth being postponed due to bad weather conditions the entire Colchester United Getech Tigers squad were well rested for Sundays Clash in the first round on the Trophy Cup against Solent Stars 2. Both teams have previously met twice with Tigers being victorious. However now knowing how each other play the game was a tough battle. Colchester opened the game scoring the first 7 points. Tough defence from Colchester also resulted in stars score not reaching double figures with six points to close the quarter. The second stanza was not Colchester’s best to say the least. Few shots were dropping and Solent’s Crosswhite dominated the score sheet. Sheer grit and determination kept Tigers in the game. Despite opening well Getech Tigers trailed by 3 at the half time break. In the third quarter Colchester truly came alive and what appeared to be a different team stepped out of the court. Matching Solent’s aggression and determination to score Shemmings owned the key way with 11 points and numerous rebounds. New offensive strategies created speedy ball movement to spread Star’s relentless defence and produce open long range shots from Mclean who also picked up numerous offensive boards along the way. Despite being undersized and with Clarke sitting a few minutes due to picking up a fourth personal foul, Colchester’s pressure in a strong man to man defence paid off with a run of 13 consecutive points to close the quarter. The fourth and final stanza saw both teams answering each other basket for basket. Clarke rejoined the game hustling for the ball at every opportunity. Both Richardson and Shemmings proved a pair hard to beat together scoring baskets off beautifully fed passes from read and tearing rebounds from opposition fiercely reaching for them. As the game drew to a close Richardson and Shemmings picked up a fourth personal foul however maintained the same intensity witnessed in the previous 38 minutes and finished the game on court. As the clock ran down Colchester kept possession and as the buzzer sounded Tigers were victorious 55-45. Top scorers were Shemmings-19, Mclean-13, Richardson-9, and Clarke-8 Next weeks fixture is against Reading at Essex University. Tip is 2pm READING ROCKETS 68 SOUTHEND SWIFTS 73 A busy weekend of play for the Southend Swifts womens teams, saw the senior side first into action when they visited Reading Rockets in a first round National Trophy tie; a competition open to all teams in the country below National League Division 1 level. The teams had met just two weeks previously, when Reading recorded a comprehensive 33 point victory, and with Swifts again missing a number of players, another difficult encounter had to be expected. The early encounters were close, with Rockets taking a 7-6 lead, but it was evident that the absence of the home side's influential American point guard would make a huge change over the previous game. A 6-3 run gave Swifts the lead and a Vikki Wilmore basket followed by a Kelly Matthews three-pointer made it 17-10 to the Essex side. Good foul shooting from Jane Barclay followed by baskets for Fran Hitt and Amy Andrews helped Southend to a 24-12 first quarter advantage. But perhaps the size of the lead lulled Swifts into a false sense of security as they managed just one score in the opening seven minutes of the second period as Reading clawed their way back to trail by just five. A three point play for Hitt should have restored matters but Southend allowed themselves to be outscored 14-5 over the final three minutes to trail 35-34 at the half time interval. An exchange of scores at the start of the third quarter left it at 38-37 before Swifts made a crucial break, scoring 14 unanswered points including three-pointers from Matthews, Wilmore and Andrews. But again they seemed to relax and allowed Reading a 10-0 stretch with only a score on the buzzer from Rebecca Rambin restoring the five point margin at 55-50. Baskets from Andrews and Rambin made the gap nine at the start of the final quarter before Reading replied with the next six. Hitt scored again but Reading again had five unanswered to tie the game up at 61 with four minutes remaining. Four straight for Southend were answered with another five by Rockets and with two minutes to play the hosts led 66-65. Swifts looked like they had lost their next possession but up stepped 16 year old Lauren Kidd to hit a huge three-point shot that completely changed the momentum of the match. Another Rambin basket took the margin back to four and despite Reading making the next two, they could get no closer as a Hitt free throw and another basket from Kidd took Southend to an unexpected if scrappy victory by 73 points to 60.
Hitt 21, Andrews and
Matthews 11 apiece and Kidd with 10 led the way. 13/11/05 Junior Women superb in defeat Senior Women’s National Trophy 1st Round Solent “Stars” 62 – 48 Northants “Lightning” The Northants “Lightning” (Junior Women) exited the Women’s National Trophy but did so with a great deal of pride after a magnificent effort against the Solent Stars second team. The “Lightning” was without their tallest player Angeline Field because of work commitments and they were further handicapped when their leading scorer Nauel Cali picked up three fouls in the first three minutes of the game. The “Lightning” was rocked by the physical nature of Solent’s play something that is rarely allowed in junior women’s basketball. Trailing 16-2 they recovered slightly to 21-8 at the end of the first quarter despite missing six free throws. In the second period of play the county girls got into their rhythm only losing the quarter 15-13. Their main problem was containing the six feet two inch Australian, Anna Crosswhite who scored freely from both close to the basket and from the perimeter shots. Despite the scoring power of the former University of West Virginia player the “Lightning” came out in determined mood in the third quarter. Thanks to a combination of aggressive defence and the re-introduction of Cali they outscored their opponents 18-6 to put the game back on the line at 42-39. Needing to lift their game Solent immediately went to Crosswhite for their points and she didn’t disappoint. The Aussie scored 11 points as her team went on a 13-zero scoring surge which took the game away from the “Lightning”. To their credit the county girls battled hard to the end but their was no doubt that the difference between the two teams was Crosswhite who had exactly half her teams total of 62 points. For the “Lightning”, Cali had 13 points and she was well supported by Erin Clarke, Naomi Sterling, and Danielle Ward all of whom scored 9 points. This weekend the team travel to Liverpool for the re-arranged game against Sefton.
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