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Division 1 Women - Weekend League Play Reviewed Tuesday, 18-Dec-2007
Dec 18, 2007, 7:25 pmDivision 1 Women - Weekend League Play Reviewed
Tuesday, 18-Dec-2007
By Dave Ryan
The "Old Firm" of women's basketball will go into the Christmas break unbeaten following comfortable victories for City
of Sheffield Hatters and Rhondda Rebels. Hatters faced Nottingham Wildcats for the second week running, and with Stephanie Gandy leading the way, Betty Codona's side strolled to an 89-36 victory.
Rebels bounced back from another midweek mauling in Europe to win 86-62 at Manchester Mystics. Led by American duo Kirby Copeland (29, pictured right) and LeNedra Brown (27), Rebels faced a tough first period, and only led 24-21 going into the second quarter. However a 20-10 stanza put Andrea Congreaves' side in control going into the locker room.
Mystics outscored the visitors 17-15 to cut Rhondda's lead to 11 going into the final stanza, but the Rebels won 27-14 in the fourth period to wrap up their fifth win of the season. Martina Gandzalova added 16 for Rebels, while Mystics were led by back-court duo Rehana Khalil (27) and Georgia Jones (16).
Team Northumbria took advantage of Mystics' loss to move up to third place – albeit having played two games more – with a 85-61 home win against London Towers. A 22-11 first period put the home side in control and they extended that advantage to 39-26 at half-time.
Towers, who are still looking for their first victory, refused to lay down and outscored the hosts 21-19 in the third period before the north east side finally took control in the fourth period adding 27 points to Towers' 14 to seal their fifth win in eight outings.
UWIC Archers are up to fifth following a tight 67-60 win at against London Heathrow Acers.
The visitors arrived late at the game, due to traffic, but this did not seem to effect them as they started brightly and opening up a 10 point lead inside the first five minutes. A three pointer from Floreana Piano, finished off the first quarter and Acers went in to the first break leading 17-10.
The second quarter was more evenly matched, with Archers struggling to cope with the inside game of Patricia Da Silva, and Archers hitting Acers on the break. Archers did managed to claw back four points, so Acers went into half time with only a three point lead at 28-25.
The third quarter started with a three-pointer from GB International Stephanie Collins to level the game. Poor decision making, sloppy execution and lack of movement again crept into the Acers offence, and dried up the points scoring, whilst Ilze Zekite found her range scoring eight points in the third quarter. Archers outscored Acers 22-12, and went into the final break up by seven.
The last quarter saw some outstanding shooting from both teams, with Acers' Piano from and Sarah Wagstaff from Archers hitting back-to-back threes. As Acers tried desperately to close the seven point lead, Archers had an answer to every shot and the final quarter finished 20-20, and for Acers the damaged had been done in the third quarter.
For Acers, the start to the 2007/8 season hasn't been as expected and they welcome the Christmas break to regroup and plan for 2008 and the tough challenge ahead. Acers coach, Terry Webb, is positive about 2008:
"We are very much looking forward to the return of our American, Jackie Codiga and know that her enthusiasm and strength will certainly add to our current squad in both training and games," he said.
"We have had tight games this season. The four games that we have lost, with the exception of Rhondda, have all been by 11 or less. The league will be very tight from third place down and we look forward to the challenge in 2008."
The battle of the Suns went the way of the visitors as Solent returned from Sevenoaks with a comfortable 90-61 victory.
There was little sign of the rout to come as the home side won the first period 23-22, but Solent took control in the second quarter to lead 46-37 at half-time.
That lead was increased to 66-51 at the final break before a 24-10 fourth quarter saw Solent comfortable winners.
Cristal Turner led Sevenaoks with 20 points, while Arek Deng added 17, with Lori Drake (26) and Caroline Turner (22) did the bulk of the Solent scoring.
EBL Div 1 Women - League Preview
Dec 7, 2007, 2:18 pmEBL Div 1 Women - League Preview
Thursday, 06-Dec-2007
By Dave Ryan
With co-leaders Rhondda Rebels in cup semi-final action, City of Sheffield Hatters will look to move clear at the top of the Division One table when they travel to Solent Suns on Saturday.
It's part of a busy weekend for Betty Codona's team as they host Nottingham Wildcats in the National Cup semi-final the previous evening, and will look to repeat last season's comprehensive victories against the south coast team.
The Hatters scored 81 on each occasion, winning by 29 in December's home game and 25 away from home in March.
Hatter go into the game with a 4-0 record, while Suns picked up their first win in four league games last week with a 62-51 victory at London Heathrow Acers.
After running Hatters close last week, third placed Team Northumbria will look to improve on their 4-2 record when they travel to Wildcats who are currently joint fifth with two wins from four games.
The sides had two close games last season, with Wildcats winning their home game in December 69-60 before the Newcastle club gained revenge three months later with an 84-79 victory.
Manchester Mystics will be looking to pour the misery on basement side London Towers when the pair meet at Fusion Leisure. Towers are propping up the table with four straight losses, while Manchester are fourth with a 3-1 record. Last season's fixture in London saw Mystics run our comfortable 82-27 winners, while the return in the north west saw Magic win 65-52.
Sunday's only game sees two sides on the wrong end of the table looking for their second league win of the season when Sevenoaks Suns host London Heathrow Acers. It will be the first meeting between the teams, and forms part of a tough weekend for Acers who host Rhondda Rebels in the National Cup semi-final on Saturday.
National Cup
