Taunton Tigers Women finished off their league season with another hard fought but well deserved away win against Guildford Heat. Both previous encounters this season had gone Tigers way, however, Guildford present stern opposition at home when they can draft in experience UK international captain, Maytham at point guard into their ranks.
After some difficulty in locating the venue, Tigers got off to a sluggish start and were taken aback by the strength of Heats early pressure as the dangerous Smythe nailed 7 points in the first 2 minutes as Tigers' defence struggled to settle. Early strikes from Laura Dyke and a pair of 3's from Hanna Byrne and Jenny Ridgway brought parity to the game after 5 minutes and with Tigers running the lanes hard and moving the ball well the quarter ended with Tigers in control and leading 19 – 18, with all of the bench run in.
Any thought that Heats fire was to be easily extinguished were soon dispelled as Tigers lead quickly evaporated as Smythe and Maytham found their way through and round the Tigers defence to ease them into a 28 – 23 lead. A great trail play and drive by the Hannah Watkins and a short range jumper by Abby Pow were just reward for the effort being put in to break down Heats obstinate zone defence, but not enough for Tigers as they trailed at the half 33 – 32.
The 3rd quarter was the turning point of the game for Tigers as they put together a great team display in all parts of the court. With Nicky Hartston, who hustled all afternoon, and Emily Farthing, tidying up the defensive boards, Tigers launched waves of fast breaks and gained their just rewards as Hannah Maddocks, Jenny Ridgway and Laura Dyke went on an absolute scoring spree to take the game away from Heat as they hit 21 points in the quarter to lead 53 – 42 going into the final stanza.
Tigers eased into the last quarter but were unrelenting in their running as Elly Leader and Abby Pow broke quickly and continually unsettled Heat with their pace as the Tigers lead reached 15 points with 5 minutes to go. The fouling out of the dominant Hannah Watkins, presented Heat with encouragement at the offensive end, and a deuce of 3s and a pair of great post plays by Smythe brought the game back to 60 – 64 with 2 minutes remaining. A last time out from coach Steve Green refocused minds before a nerve settling 3 pointer opened the gap once more. With Heat in foul trouble and chasing the game, trips to the line by Tigers served to increase their lead and win the game deservedly by 69 – 62.
Team Manager Jim Hartston commented after the game,
“This was another great win for the girls and was an excellent all-round team effort. It's the end of a fantastic league campaign for us and to finish runners-up speaks volumes for the achievements of what is a very small squad. We enter the Division 2 play-off stages for the first time in Tigers Ladies history as 5th ranked team and so the adventure continues!”