Resurgent Tigers Women maintained their play-off hopes with a comfortable 48 – 31 victory over Bristol Academy Flyers. It was sweet revenge against their local rivals after suffering a 40 – 50 home loss earlier in the season.
New Head Coach Heath saw the performance as another giant step forward for the team,
“It was really important we could back up the good win against Birmingham and continue to make progress.”
Heath was also full of praise for 2 of his assistants who work with the inside players,
“Jo Woods (former Tigers star) and Chris Page (present men's centre) have worked tirelessly with the ‘bigs’ and it is really starting to pay off.”
Indeed it was the centres that did all the damage for Taunton. Laura Dyke (18 points) was simply unplayable around the basket and she was supported in the paint by the relentless Farthing (11 points) and Watkins (6 points). An early 3-pointer from Jenny Ridgway kept the Bristol defence honest and created space for her team-mates.
Team manager Jim Hartston had done his homework and his scouting report had Taunton's defence much better prepared. Tigers shot out to a 15 – 4 lead with pressure on the Bristol guards causing turnovers. They never looked back, stretching the lead steadily throughout, establishing a 20 point lead by midway through the 3rd period.
The cushion allowed Heath to rest Hannah Watkins, still recovering from injury, with an eye on future games. With the game effectively over the 4th quarter was a messy period with a lot of turnovers but amongst the chaos the cool head of experienced Abby Pow shone through. The guard looked after the ball the best of all whilst giving her opposite guards from Bristol a torrid time throughout the game.