21/10/04
SOLENT STARS
71 (14, 30, 45) Rhondda comprehensively beat Solent Stars in Solent's last Regional League game by 71-90 last Thursday at Hamble Community Sports College.
The game emphasised that if Solent,
who had already qualified to play in Division 1 of the National League, wish to
compete with the top teams in the The game started with a nice jump shot by Zsuzsa Tarnai to take Solent into their only lead of the game. The rest of her team mates were showing their nerves as turnovers from Lizzy Cloke and Sarah Cooper led to easy baskets for Rhondda's athletic forward Robert who was dominating the early going. A great pass from Tarnai to Katarina Syngellakis reduced the lead to 4-9 but Lizzy Cloke immediately collected her third foul and had to leave the game. Morgan hit the resulting free throws but Tarnai hit back from the free throw line but further Solent turnovers and poor defensive rebounding led to further points for Lender and Morgan. After a Solent timeout Tarnai reduced the lead with a turnaround jump shot, drawing a foul on Lender and hitting the bonus. Zekite traded baskets with Tarnai but another Solent turnover led to Gottardi finishing a Rhondda fast break but the last two minutes saw further Solent turnovers and Rhondda end the first quarter with a commanding 14-29 lead. Rhondda continued to move ahead with Solent's hesitancy on offence giving Robert and Gottardi easy fast break layups. With Solent over 20 points behind the introduction of Catherine Brownsell, who had arrived late to the game with Louise Gamman, did lead to an increase in Solents energy level as they now faced a 28 point deficit. Then as the second quarter drew to a close Carrie Jones hit a three pointer and Sarah Cooper began to play with more confidence hitting a couple of jump shots. Brownsell and Cooper managed to reduce the deficit to 21 points as the half ended with Solent trailing 30-51. The second half was a far more evenly balanced game but Solent were never able to eat into Rhondda's lead. Whenever they threatened Gottardi in particular was able to create for herself or her team mates attacking the Solent defence off the dribble at will. For Solent, Cloke was able to step up, giving Tarnai support at the offensive end but still Solent gave up too many points in transition resulting from turnovers. Robert and Morgan continued to benefit from Gottardis's creative ability.
The only negative for Rhondda was
when Robert injured herself but hopefully it will not put her out for their
European campaign. The game finished with both teams giving all their players an
opportunity to get on court and a final result of 71-90 to Rhondda. Thus Rhondda
continued their unbeaten start to the season and both teams will be looking
forward to the start of the National League Division 1 schedule in November. 16/10/04 New Star Shines for Mystics. Manchester Mystics won two crucial games over the weekend. The women’s team of the Manchester Club are playing in the Senior National League Division 1/2 and are desperately keen to obtain Division 1 status once the cut is made. Their win, 76-67 against Northumbria Tyne and Wear on Saturday means they now play the team which finished 3rd in the Midlands section and a win will ensure Div.1 status for the rest of the season. They were greatly helped on Saturday by their new Australian signing Deanna Smith, who scored 34 points. Deanna has come from playing with Adelaide Lightning in the top Australian women’s league and was on the fringes of selection for the national team which won the silver medal at the Olympics this year. She showed her excellent all-round skills to the home fans on Sunday evening, when she led the Mystics to another win, this time against local rivals, Stockport Lapwings, in a Cup game. She scored 32 points in the 63-58 victory. Coach Sergio Lara-Bercial is delighted to welcome such a talented player to his squad and is very optimistic about the progress they can now make.
CARDIFF CLIPPERS 63 (11, 23,
37) Solent confirmed their place in the first division with another entertaining offensive performance on Saturday against a spirited and well organised Cardiff team. The game saw Solent gradually stretch their lead out but Cardiff never quit and caused several problems for Stars with their disciplined approach. For Solent the game saw an outstanding defensive effort from Catherine Brownsell who ended up with 17 steals and 6 assists.
"I was also impressed by Carrie
Jones and Lynne Powell today. Lynne continues to develop at point guard and her
50% shooting from the three point The final game in the SW Regional League pits Solent against last years National League and Cup Champions, Rhondda Rebels, and will take place on Thursday evening at Hamble Community Sports College at 8pm. "We have achieved our first goal of qualifying for the 1st division but Thursday's game will show us if we have the ability to challenge the top four teams in the country in our first season back in the top division", added Coach Ball. "Rhondda is the only British women's club to compete in Europe playing in the FIBA Europe Cup. They are where we aspire to be and have signed a major sponsorship deal with Coca-Cola. However we have come a long way in only 15 months and we intend to keep progressing. I know the players are really looking forward to the challenge of matching up against some of the best players in the country." Solent have been strengthened with Louise Gamman finally able to join the team after difficulties with getting time off work. "Louise will be an excellent addition to our team. Although she has only trained once with us I know that she will quickly get up to speed with her team mates. She is a great person and is a tough competitor whom I have had the pleasure of coaching before for Ipswich and England Under 20's."
Scorers: WOMENS SENIOR LEAGUE - SOUTH EAST REGION SPELTHORNE ACERS 93 SOUTHEND SWIFTS 48 Southend Swifts fell to a heavy defeat against a very experienced Spelthorne Acers in Middlesex on Saturday. Acers have added England international Becky Lear from Plymouth and alongside fellow national player Caroline Ayers, presented a formidable frontline against a Swifts side missing a number of regulars. Southend struggled to score in the first quarter, making only one field basket, but good foul shooting kept them in contention as they trailed just 14-11 at the end of the opening 10 minutes; Ayres already with nine to her credit for the home side. The second period was equally fruitless for Swifts as they conceded a 14-3 run to trail 28-14, but some determined play, particularly from Martina Michalickova, kept the Essex side in contention, bringing the deficit back to single figures before Spelthorne scored two late baskets to lead 37-25 at the half time interval. But a 14-2 stretch over the first four minutes of the third quarter seemed to drain all the energy from the Swifts and despite six points in three minutes for Kirsty Clark, the margin had extended to 65-41 at the end of three quarters. The final period was even more one-way traffic as Southend struggled to score from even the easiest of opportunities. The only joy for Swifts was the performance of Jane Barclay who despite being just 15 years old battled valiantly against her much older opponents to at least keep the score within the bounds of respectability. Ayers 25 and Lear 16 had led the victors, Michalickova 14 and Barclay 11 the high scorers for Swifts. 10/10/04
WOMENS SENIOR LEAGUE - SOUTH EAST REGION Southend Swifts were looking to maintain their unbeaten record this season when they entertained London Towers at Greensward College on Sunday. Towers had suffered a tough defeat at Brixton the previous evening and were looking for an early opportunity to get themselves back into contention in the regional format that continues to the end of October. Swifts never got into their stride in the opening quarter as they struggled to contend with Towers' zone defence. Missing guards Jo and Amy Andrews, the home side were never comfortable shooting from distance and managed a paltry four points in the first 10 minutes to find themselves trailing 14-4. But whatever was said at the break seemed to have an immediate effect. Martina Michalickova and Louise Robinson both hit three-pointers in a 13-4 run that made it a one point game. Towers replied with two threes of their own but the hosts remained calm and excellent foul shooting from Jane Barclay kept her side in it as the Londoners led 26-23 at the half time interval. A 6-2 stretch at the start of the third period gave Southend their first lead but a time-out for Towers soothed their nerves and they scored 12 unanswered to open a 10 point gap that they retained at three quarter time with a 44-34 lead. When Michalickova left the game with her now almost customary five fouls, the game seemed over at 48-38. But into the fray stepped Zoe Walkling and the diminutive playmaker hit two three-pointers in an 11-3 run that made it 51-49 to Towers; Robinson also hitting a huge trey. Neither side could find the basket in the next two minutes as both squandered opportunities and going into the final minute Towers led by 3. Swifts had the ball but Walkling had her heels clipped by an opponent that brought her crashing to the ground. Two officials deemed there had been no offence which allowed London to score the final basket and end the contest. Leading scorers for Swifts were Michalickova 13 and Robinson and Clark 8 apiece. For Towers Perry had 17 and Henderson 13. 25/09/04
WOMENS REGIONAL LEAGUE - SOUTH EAST The first part of this season sees the Senior Womens league divided into four regional divisions, before the teams are put into divisions 1 and 2 based on their current results. The first match of the season saw Southend entertain Solent Stars second team in a south-east encounter. Swifts are largely the same side as last season, having brought in just Kirsty Clark from Ipswich, who no longer play at senior level. Solent fielded a number of players from last seasons Championship winning first team as well as junior players getting their first opportunity of senior womens basketball. Swifts opened strongly, moving out to a 14-6 lead in the fourth minute with Martina Michalickova and Louise Robinson sharing 12 of the points. Solent brought the deficit back to 6 but a 12-5 run over the last 3 minutes of the first quarter, topped and tailed by 3-pointers from Emma Camp and Amy Andrews, gave the home side a 30-17 lead after the opening period, that should have been a springboard for a comfortable victory. But Solent had other ideas, scoring the first seven points of the second quarter, and keeping Southend scoreless for the first four minutes. A Michalickova score followed by a Jo Andrews 3-pointer should have steadied matters, but Swifts had lost their composure and a miserable return of just 7 points in the period allowed the South Coast team to reduce the deficit to just four at half time, with the scoreline at 37-33. When the visitors hit the first four points of the third quarter, it seemed that an away victory would be likely. But Southend's captain, Jo Andrews, had other ideas. Hitting three 3-pointers in the quarter, she inspired her team to a 25 point haul in the period to open a 62-46, that included the last 11 points scored. Solent came out strongly in the final period, bring the margin back to 12, but this time it was Emma Camp steering the ship. The England international scored nine in the quarter as Swifts maintained their momentum to take their opening league fixture 79-65. Michalickova and Camp led the scorers with 22 apiece followed by Jo Andrews with 18 including four 3-pointers. For Solent Rosie Chase 17, Nikki Scrivener 16 and Katherine Hield 15 had been the high scorers. 23/09/04
Solent 116
(36,64,91) The game saw a promising all round performance from Solent although the team will need to tighten up defensively in the next few weeks and improve their perimeter shooting especially from the 3 point line. Points: Solent: Cooper 23, Tarnai 20, Syngellakis 18, Jones 17, Brownsell 17, Cloke 8, Powell 7, Rourke 4, Hield 2
Reading: Hout 15,
Talbot 10, Brownfoot 8, Hill 4, Patch 4, Wadsworth 1, Clarke 0
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