Taunton Tigers Women adventure in the National Cup ended in Cardiff on Sunday, when they lost in quarter final of the National Cup, to the UWIC Archers 105 – 59. UWIC are presently riding high at the top of National League Division One and are unbeaten in all competitions this season. Their side is stacked out with players possessing GB, Wales, and England international experience, and they presented formidable opposition to this young Taunton side, who were making their first appearance ever in the Cup quarter finals. Interestingly only a couple of months earlier, Tigers travelled to see some of the UWIC stars representing GB in the European Play-offs, and here they were competing against the best in the land.
Tigers made a cracking start to the game as Millie Watkins, who was a thorn in the UWIC side throughout the game, put the 1st points on the score board and laid down the gauntlet to the Premier Division side. Whatever concerns Tigers coaching staff had about how the girls would approach the game were eased as the realization dawned that the gulf between the sides could be bridged, in part, by self belief, playing their own game, whenever possible, and remaining organised. Baskets were traded evenly until the 5th minute when a scoring burst of 11 unanswered points from UWIC opened up a 20 – 14 lead at the end of the quarter. Tigers hauled their way back into the game at the start of the 2nd quarter as more inroads to the UWIC basket and great offensive boards by Laura Dyke and Emily Farthing reduced the UWIC lead to only 1 point by the mid-point of the quarter, before another deadly burst of 17 unanswered UWIC points swung the game firmly in the home team's favour at the half-time break, leading 45 – 26.
A welcome half-time team talk time by Coach Steve Green emphasized a positive approach to the second half. Once again the girls roared into the experienced UWIC defence, who were now clearly getting frustrated in their efforts in trying to make the Tigers lie down. Great defensive work by Abby Pow and Nicola Hartston, with good support from youngster Ellie Leader and Hannah Maddocks, continued to slow down and disrupt UWIC as baskets were traded evenly until 11 more unanswered points from UWIC left Tigers with an uphill task as they trailed 72 – 38 at the end of the 3rd quarter. A surprisingly evenly contested last quarter became an outside shooting match for both sides as Jenny Ridgway and Hanna Byrne traded baskets with the best that UWIC could offer and the game finished with UWIC running out comfortable winners 105 – 59.
Team manager, Jim Hartston, whilst philosophical about the result, was thrilled with the girls' competitive attitude,
“What a fantastic opportunity for the girls to compete against the current form team in British basketball. I'm really proud with the attitude they displayed and the manner with which we approached the game and, although there were obviously a few nerves, these were quickly settled. It was really interesting to see the concern on the opposition faces, when we competed so strongly in many areas of the court. We can take real confidence from the fact that we hit 59 points against such a strong UWIC side and we will need to retain this offensive mind-set when we get back to normal league action when we play against Bristol this coming weekend.”