WOMEN'S NATIONAL CUP  10/11/02

Nottingham “Wildcats”            100 - 33            Northants “Lightning”

Less than 24 hours after their devastating Trophy defeat the “Lightning” were back on court for a Senior Cup 3^rd Round tie. Their opponents were Women’s Conference side Nottingham “Wildcats” a side well known for their aggressive approach to the game. Without the injured Sandra Wainwright this was the last sort of game the county youngsters really needed.

Despite their fatigue the “Lightning” were well in contention during the first quarter and only trailed 20-11 after the first ten minutes. The next two periods were to be a nightmare for the youngsters as they conceded 45 points while managing just seven themselves and the 100-33 mauling against a bigger more experienced side was inevitable.

So out of the two knock out competitions coach, Karen Goodrich can, as they say, “Concentrate on the league.” She knows that her team has a lot of catching up to do on Ellesmere Port in preparation for the end of season Play Offs.

77 SHEFFIELD HATTERS -V- IPSWICH BOBCATS 48

Ipswich Bobcats bowed out of this season’s Women’s National Cup with a second round defeat to Sheffield Hatters when the sides met in South Yorkshire on Saturday.

Cup holders Sheffield are currently riding high in second place in the Women’s National Conference, and made a strong start against a Bobcats side that had been without a competitive match for six weeks.

Sheffield applied pressure from the outset and baskets from the impressive England international Katie Crowley and Andrea Kagie took Hatters to a 13-0 lead after just 4 minutes.  A time out was called by Elaine Miller and Bobcats responded with tighter defence and a more controlled offence, which saw Laura Shemming open Bobcats’ account with a three point play after being fouled by Crowley on a drive to the basket.

Baskets from Kirsty Clark, Line Brodie and Charlotte Dunne kept Ipswich in contention and they recovered to trail 23-14 at the end of the first quarter but Sheffield again dominated at the restart.  A basket from Molly Lafferty was quickly followed by a free throw by Helen Catto and a three-pointer from Kirsty Lavin as Hatters went 29-14 ahead. 

Brodie hit back with a three-pointer for Bobcats but Lucy Hutchinson immediately hit a similar long range effort as the outside shooting of both sides started to dictate the style of the game. Charlotte Dunne was equally effectively with her drives at the end of the Ipswich fast break, and made a solid contribution to defence with a huge blocked shot as Sarah Winter attempted a lay up for Hatters.

The Bobcats revival saw them trail just 41-29 at half time, but another strong opening by Sheffield took Hatters to 51-33 lead midway through the third quarter to effectively put the game beyond Bobcats’ reach.  Shemming scored three more baskets in the closing stages of the quarter to bring her personal tally to 15 points, but Sheffield held a commanding 60-39 lead going into the final period, and extended the lead with baskets from Lavin, Kagie and Rada Pavichavich to go 72-41 ahead. 

Kayleigh Read marked her return from injury with an 11 point tally when she hit a late three-pointer and both coaches had the opportunity to run their bench.  Kirsty Banns, Kayleigh Button and Lauren Lindsay all earned valuable court time as Sheffield progressed to the quarter finals with a solid 77-48 victory.

Bobcats make a repeat journey to Sheffield on Saturday when the sides meet again in the Women’s National Conference.  The match will be played at Concord Sports Centre, and tips off at 4.00 p.m.

Ipswich Bobcats players and scorers: L Shemming 15, K Read 11, C Dunne 10, L Brodie 8, K Clark 4, K Banns 0, K Button 0, L Lindsay 0, H Wood 0

Sheffield Hatters players and scorers: K Crowley 17, A Kagie 13, K Lavin 13, R Pavichavich 12, L Hutchinson 11, H Catto 3, M Lafferty 3, K. Loftus 3, S Winter 2, K Hinchliffe 0

Women's National Cup 26/10/02

“Lightning” advance to the quarter finals of the Senior Women’s National Cup.

TCi Northants “Lightning”               88 - 65             Southend “Swifts”

Looking for extra competition the Northants Junior Women entered the Senior Cup this season but now they find themselves in amongst the ’giants’ of the sport having battled their way through the quarter finals of the Cup. Last Saturday they took on and convincingly beat Southend “Swifts” from the 2^nd Division of the Women’s National League. In fairness Southend are another very young team firmly based on the Chelmsford Junior Women’s team.

The “Swifts” were handicapped from the very outset having been seriously delayed in their journey to Northampton following a major accident on the M.25. They weren’t helped by a less than sympathetic attitude from the match officials who gave the visitors only five minutes warm up time. In these situations it is difficult for both teams with one underprepared and the other psychologically past the time they had prepared to play. Not surprisingly it was the Southend girls who were most affected and after the first quarter of the match found themselves trailing 27-17.

Despite the ten point deficit the “Swifts” had displayed an aggressive man to man pressure defence and in the second period this tactic caused the “Lightning” considerable problems as they forced numerous turn-overs. Such was Southend’s dominance that they took the second quarter by six points and only trailed 42-38 at half time.

The “Lightning” made an excellent start to the third period outscoring their opponents 8-2 in the first two minutes but Angelina Browne who had rushed to the match following England team training, picked up her third foul. Coach, Karen Goodrich responded by sitting down her young centre and switching to a zone defence. Goodrich needed one of her other players to ‘step up’ in the absence of Browne and it was Lucy Chilton who ‘came up with the goods’ scoring 11 points in the third quarter.

Despite Chilton’s efforts the “Llightning” were still finding problems with the Southend ‘press’. They were also getting more and more frustrated by some officiating which they considered to be less than consistent. One particular decision incensed Goodrich so much that the referee penalised her with a technical foul. As so often happens following this penalty, the referees became much more favourable to the “Lightning’s “ cause and at the end of the third period they had increased their lead to 12 at 66-54.

Southend’s physical efforts and the “Lightning’s” height advantage began to tell in the final quarter. The Northants girls totally dominated the final ten minutes of the game pouring in 22 points whilst restricting their opponents to just 11, three of them from a “Hail Mary” shot at the end of the game.

In the 88-65 win it was the “Lightning’s” two young centres Chilton and Browne who led the scoring with 20 and 18 points respectively. Despite the Southend pressure Andrea Wanstall was at the top of her form with 18 personal points while Kanda Rogers contributed 10.

In the Quarter Final the “Lightning” will face a massive challenge. They’ve been drawn against Women’s Conference side Nottingham “Widcats” and that match will be played at Nottingham on Sunday 10^th November the day after their Women’s Trophy 2^nd Round match against Ellesmere Port.

Women's National Cup 26/10/02

NORTHANTS LIGHTNING 88  SOUTHEND SWIFTS 65

A nightmare 3 1/2 hour journey to Northampton, was the forerunner to a difficult evening for Southend Swifts are they sought to reach the National Senior Cup quarter finals for the first time in their history.  Although a senior match, both sides fielded just one player over 18 each, making this a good opportunity for young players to show their skills.

With an over zealous official not allowing Swifts any warm-up time, it was unsurprising that the Essex side made a slow start, trailing 19-6 after seven minutes to a very tall Northampton side.  But Louise Robinson and Sarah Wagstaff found time from battling the Midlanders tallest players to find their scoring range and at the end of the first quarter the deficit was 10 at 27-17.

After conceding a 3-point play at the start of the second period, Southend finally got into their stride.  Sarah Wagstaff cut loose with 6 straight points and with Vikki Willmore starting to dictate matters, the home sides lead was down to 7 at 32-25.  Another 6-2 run saw the margin down to 4 and although Northampton made 5 in a row, Swifts ended the half just 42-38 down, a Jo Andrews 3-pointer triggering a 7-2 run.  Northampton's Andrea Wanstall scoring 18 in the opening 20 minutes, Sarah Wagstaff already with 15 of her own.

The third stanza saw the home side come out with much greater determination, and they stretched their lead to 9 at 55-46 with all of their points coming from England centres Angelina Browne and Lucy Chilton.  Swifts looked to recover, with good play from Francesca Hitt, before the incident came that settled the match.  Following a foul called on one of the Northampton players, their coach was given a technical foul for comments made.  This led to verbal abuse of the officials by the home supporters. 

As is often the case, the whole momentum of the officiating swings in the favour of the offending team, which meant that in the remaining 12 minutes of the match, the home side were called for just two further fouls giving them considerable leeway in defending.  Despite a final 3-point shot almost from the half way line by Jo Andrews, Swifts fell to a very disappointing defeat, as much to the elements as to their own failings.

Northampton's 3 England juniors, Chilton, Browne and Wanstall led the way for the home side.  For Swifts Sarah Wagstaff with a career senior high of 24 followed by Vikki Willmore on 17 were the top scores.

There is a wealth of Swifts basketball next weekend.  On Saturday the cadet girls play Ipswich in a Southern Premier League match before the senior girls take on Brixton Topcats.  The cadet game starts at 3 pm.  On Sunday, the seniors play Taunton Tigers, tip-off 10 am followed by the cadet boys against Colchester Alliance.  All matches are at Greensward College in Hockley.

Women's National Cup 12/10/02

Northants “Lightning”            79 - 51             Liverpool

In search of more matches the Northants Junior Women’s team the “Lightning” are competing in the Senior Cup this season. Last Saturday they came up against Liverpool from Division 1 of the National League. Aware that the game might be of a more physical nature coach, Karen Goodrich had put her charges through a gruelling training session during the week. Her players certainly responded well as they started the game firing on all cylinders and leaping into an 11-2 lead. Liverpool responded well with their centre Helen Wilding causing problems with some aggressive rebounding and at the end of the first period the “Lightning’s lead was down to six at 19-13.

By now Liverpool had switched to a zone defence and initially this caused the Northants girls problems but their intensive defence was beginning to have an effect and midway through the second quarter Liverpool cracked. The “Lightning” poured in 17 points while Liverpool could manage just one so at half time the county girls comfortable led 41-21.

In that five minute period scores had come from inside the keyway, from fast breaks and finally from a ‘banked’ Emma Stewart three pointer.

To their credit the Liverpool side stuck to their task with determination but their efforts weren’t well received by the referees as the Merseysiders picked up fouls at an alarming rate. The “Lightning” won the last two periods by a handful of points with Goodrich using the game to switch defences and try out different combinations on the floor.

In the 79-51 victory the ever impressive Angelina Browne scored 28 points, while Lucy Chilton  who is rapidly turning into a baby-faced assassin supported well with 15 points and 10 rebounds. In addition guards Andrea Wanstall and Hayley Swann scored 15 and 13 respectively.

In the next round the “Lightning” will have a home tie against Southend.