In a busy weekend of basketball, Taunton Tigers Women played their second game within a 24 hour period when the entertained UWIC Archers in the National League at Wellsprings in their 1st home game of the season. Tigers, fresh from their heart-breaking defeat at Bristol, have never enjoyed a win against any UWIC sides at National League level, and another tough game was expected from the University side which had, the previous day, comfortably beaten Cardiff Celts and had amongst their ranks players with a wealth of national league experience with both UWIC and Cardiff.
It was good to welcome back a couple of old Taunton favourites for this event — Damien Jennings (ex Tigers Men) as coach of UWIC, and the ever-popular, legend of Taunton Tigers Womens basketball, Jo Woods, as assistant to Steve Green — great to have you back and involved with the team Jo!
Any concerns that supporters had of a ‘hangover’ after the previous day's defeat were quickly dispelled as the girls made a dream start. Intense team defence from the tip by a determined Tigers, was richly rewarded by early turn overs from UWIC and a fast breaking Tigers side enjoyed an early domination as they eased into an unanswered 9 point lead after 3 minutes. Despite an urgent time out, UWIC had no answer to the Tigers pressure and their clinical finishing as Laura Dyke and Hannah Watkins enjoyed 9 points apiece during the quarter, and no less than 6 of the Tigers players had their name in the scorebook as Tigers closed out the quarter leading 30 – 11.
Coach Jennings used the break to re-organise the UWIC defence, but this only served to slow the Tigers scoring at the expense of UWIC's own offensive threat. Good, quick bench rotation kept all the Tigers girls fresh on court and maintained the defensive pressure and turnover possibilities on UWIC. Roared on by an appreciative crowd, scoring continued to be spread throughout the team and by the half-time break, Tigers had stretched their lead to a well-deserved 53 – 20 with all team members on the score sheet.
A half time team talk by coach Green emphasized the need to maintain the momentum in the second half and it was a refocused Tigers team which took to the floor. Unfortunately, although the intensity remained, the rich vein of scoring dried up. 5 trips to the line resulted in only 2 points for the Tigers and really good looks at the basket failed to drop, however, Tigers finished the quarter restricting UWIC to only one point and leading comfortably 61 – 21.
The final quarter was very much the same as the previous quarter — Tigers dominating play throughout the court, but not being fully rewarded in points differential. Sympathetic refereeing put Tigers in foul trouble and led to the loss of MVP Laura Dyke, who hit a National League high of 18 points, and enabled UWIC to gain greater respectability as they nailed 8 points from the line. Tigers finished the game worthy winners 72 – 35.
Tigers new assistant coach, Jo Woods commented:,
“It's a thrill to be back and involved with the girls and to see them perform so well as a unit. This result is a real boost for their confidence, particularly after the disappointment of yesterday — all credit to them for their efforts. This Tigers team has the potential to get stronger as the season progresses — it's up to all of us to ensure it happens.”