Taunton Tigers Women maintained their improvement, upsetting top of the table Bristol Storm to move into fourth place and within sight of the play-offs in the National Division 2 conference.
Straight from the off a quick inside score and then a 3 pointer from Hanna Byrne (13 points) opened up a 5 – 0 lead. Good player and ball movement on offence continued to generate good shots but the travelling Tigers failed to finish allowing Bristol Storm to finish the opening quarter 14 – 11 ahead.
The second period saw the League leaders start to impose themselves. The Storm's American forward Ravn (18 points) caused all sorts of problems with her pace and footwork but the Tigers fought their way back in to close to 26 – 23 by the half.
The third quarter had a similar pattern with Bristol stretching to 9 points ahead only to find counter-resistance from the Tigers. Abby Pow and Nicola Hartston set the tone for the whole team by hustling the Storm's guards with full-court pressure whilst at the other end Emily Farthing and Byrne were finding ways to score through pure determination and resilience.
The 4th quarter belonged to Laura Dyke. Early foul trouble had limited her court-time but come the hour, class and experience came to the fore. Jenny Ridgway was the main provider as Dyke (15 points) provided 10 last quarter points to see the jubilant Taunton finishing off a famous victory.
Coach Ronnie Heath was quick to praise the effort and character of the team,
“I really found out about the spirit and desire of this team today. Whenever we really needed to find a bit extra the girls were able to dig deep and overcome. On the 2 occasions when they stretched the lead to 9 points most teams would have crumbled but these girls show the true Tiger spirit. Every player contributed to this win today that has kept our season alive.”
The Tigers now need to maintain their form against Plymouth at home this Saturday at SCAT 2pm tip-off.