Taunton Tigers Women completed another great weekend of basketball for the Tigers club as they retained their top spot in Division 2 of the English Basketball league when they defeated Guernsey in a pulsating game of basketball in their adopted home court of Southampton.
This is the first time that Tigers have played the Guernsey representative side, who finished a creditable 6th place in the World Island games held in Rhodes during the summer. Entry into the English Basketball League is a major logistic exercise for the heavily sponsored Guernsey side, who fly in every other weekend to play one away game and one home game, before jetting back to the Channel Islands.
Tigers got off to a great start and established an early 6 point lead, before Guernsey struck back to lead 11 – 8 in the 5th minute. The lead change hands no less than 10 times in the 1st quarter, but whenever Guernsey appeared to pull away, sparkling play by the Tigers, reigned them back as, no less than 6 Tigers players found the net to lead 27 – 21 at the break. Milly Watkins, Tigers MVP, enjoyed a particularly productive spree as, in addition to restricting the ever-dangerous Kerr, to poor options, she scored an incredible 25 points in the half, as Tigers entered the locker room leading 44 – 33.
There was little respite for the Channel Islanders after the break, as good bench rotation, flexed the Tigers options and allowed fresh legs to run the lanes, with guards Hanna Byrne and Jenny Ridgway directing the game from point. Although, not scoring quite as freely as in the 1st half, Tigers managed to increase and extend their lead through good inside moves by Laura Dyke and Emily Farthing, whilst Aimee, Brook, Ellie Leader, Nicky Hartston, and Abby Pow kept things tight at the defensive end, enabling Tigers to close out the game 74 – 59.
Coach, Steve Green, was delighted with the result,
“Another great weekend for Taunton Tigers Women. The girls performed really well today. Guernsey really fancied their chances of getting a result against us, but the girls stood tall and gave a great display at both ends of the court — another well deserved win and confirmation of our top spot.”