Taunton Tigers Women completed another great weekend of basketball when they continued their winning ways with 2 great away wins. A hard fought win in the continuing duel against Bristol Storm, saw the girls progress to the quarter finals of the national Cup for the first time in their history, whilst an impressive high scoring win against Cardiff Celts reinforced their early season form and maintained their place as undefeated leaders of National League Division 2.
The postponed cup fixture against Bristol, finally only got under way, but only by Tigers foregoing home advantage and agreeing a switch to the Storm venue and playing on a Thursday evening. Although only a couple of months into the season, this was the 3rd time the sides had met, with all games being played in Bristol, with Storm being the only side to beat Tigers in the National Trophy.
As might be expected, with sides who know each other so well, a difficult game was expected. Storm got off to a dream start and struck eleven unanswered points in the first 4 minutes before Tigers had drawn breath. A smart time out by Coach Steve Green, relieved the Storm pressure and enabled Tigers to claw their way, basket by basket, back into the game. Strong drives by Hanna Byrne and Millie Watkins, and good inside play by Laura Dyke, enabled Tigers to close the quarter only trailing by 12 – 9. Good outside shooting by Jenny Ridgway and Aimee Brook allowed Tigers to inch their way past Storm to lead 20 – 18 at the quarter.
As often happens in such matches, Tigers slender lead was wiped out immediately after the break, as the girls failed to find the basket until the 5th minute of the quarter, by which time the score had reversed to 26 – 22 to the Storm. Superb defensive work by Emily Farthing and Abby Pow was rewarded by a succession of Storm turnovers and productive fast breaks as the girls raced into ten point lead by the middle of the final quarter. With Bristol in foul trouble and Tigers converting well from the line, the game closed out with Tigers winning 46 – 40 and booking an away trip in the Cup quarter final with high flying Division 1 side UWIC.
A return to league action against Cardiff Celts at the impressive Cwmbran stadium on Saturday resulted in quite a different game for the Tigers girls. Whilst not the force of the past 2 seasons, largely due to losing 4 key players just before the start of the season, Celts still boast a good line up including ex-Tigers Academy player Emma Gough.
What a difference a couple of days make! Although Tigers trailed momentarily by a couple of points, this time it was Tigers who surged into an impressive lead 26 – 13 at the end of the quarter with 5 players finding the score sheet, and Jenny Ridgway, Millie Watkins and Hanna Byrne making particularly productive inroads to the basket. Celts for their part, kept nibbling away at the Tigers lead, with Emma Gough, who fired 5 long rang 3 point shots on the night, being a particular thorn in the side as the half finished 43 – 35 to Tigers.
A fantastic scoring spree by Tigers at the start of the 2nd half effectively closed out the game as Laura Dyke, Nicky Hartston, and Hannah Maddocks all found the basket as Tigers led 70 – 49 at the end of the quarter. Tigers were unrelenting in their running and scoring game throughout the final quarter and restricted the Celts looks at the basket, as they closed out the game with a 9 year high score, winning 94 – 58, with both Millie Watkins and Laura Dyke hitting over 20 points apiece.
Long standing supporter, Audrey Watkins, was absolutely delighted with the girls' performance,
“It's fantastic to see the girls playing so well and with so much confidence. Their success is testimony to the hours of dedicated and quality training, good game preparation, and to great teamwork, both on and off the court. Their performance has really put them on the basketball map and they are doing Taunton proud.”