Tigers women completed another double header weekend of basketball and unfortunately, came up against 2 strong sides riding high in the table. On Saturday the long away trip to the East End of London ended up with a defeat to fourth place Enfield, and the home game on Sunday saw another, albeit closer defeat at the hands of third placed Cardiff Celts.
In both games, the Tigers Women started with an intensity and a determination which shook their opponents in the early stages. On the Saturday against Enfield, Tigers soared into an early lead, ran the boards extremely well, and hustled strongly during the first quarter. For a side that has had trouble scoring points throughout the season, early confidence was converted into easy baskets as each side traded shot for shot. The quarter break came at just the right time for an Enfield side who were taken out of their usual tempo by Tigers running and hustle game. The second quarter saw Enfield resort to a zone defence and focus their attack on their strong inside players Imbert, Morris and Brown. As the game progressed these 3 players increasingly began to dominate the boards and turned the screw at both ends of the court and made the easy Tigers looks at the basket fewer and further between. That said, Emily Farthing had a strong game at the offensive end and competed strongly with the Enfield ‘big men’, picking up 12 points during the game. The ever-dependable Hannah Watkins and Jenny Ridgway also weighed in with 10 points apiece. At the end of the 3rd quarter with Enfield winning 62 – 39, and the game already lost, Coach John Abbott chose to sit down his main scoring threats and save them for the Sunday game. This was ‘just what the doctor ordered’ for Enfield, who were looking to build a big points difference to assist their play off aspirations and they overpowered the Tigers in the last quarter to take the game 89 – 41.
The home game against high-flying Cardiff Celts was a slightly different proposition. The Celts are not quite in the same physicality league as Enfield and Tigers had troubled them with their running game earlier in the season. Tigers running game and high intensity defence enabled them to secure early steals and, like Enfield the day before, were taken out of their game comfort zone as Tigers competed in all areas of the floor. Hannah Watkins was having a good game under the boards — rebounding and scoring with easy put backs as Tigers traded baskets one for one with the Cardiff outfit. The turning point of the game was in the eighth minute of the 2nd quarter when the refs gave 2 dubious fouls against Hannah Watkins, leaving her in serious foul trouble, when the scores were tied 30 points apiece. Cardiff pulled away with a 3 point shot on the buzzer to lead 35 – 30 at the break. Coach John Abbott sat Hannah down throughout the 3rd quarter and the Celts took full advantage of her absence by securing the quarter 17 – 6, to lead 52 – 36. Tigers pressed hard throughout the final quarter and missed some straight-forward baskets, and although some early scores narrowed the gap, Cardiff secured the points with a 62 – 45 win.
Reflecting on the weekend, Manager Jim Hartston commented,
“The girls again showed real grit and character during both games over the weekend and competed well. We have come a long way this season and player for player we have nothing to fear in this league. Although we have struggled at the offensive end of the court, with no established or dominant scoring threat, we are comfortable on the ball and have as good a defence as anyone in the league — in fact we have impressed many with our game organisation, commitment and style of play. With 2 games left we can reflect on a season which has been a massive learning experience for the team. We are already committed to National League entry next season and will be looking for an improvement on our mid table position, with play off contention our primary target.”
Tigers Womens next home game is against league leaders UWIC on Saturday 17th March at Wellsprings. Tip off 15:45.