NATIONAL LEAGUE DIVISION 1 WOMEN PLAYOFFS

TEAM NORTHUMBRIA 88 – 94 SOLENT SUNS

Solent Suns defied the odds and a 14 point deficit to come back at the death and win a pulsating up and down game by 94-88 to progress into next weekends ‘Final 4’ Championship where they will play Rhondda Rebels in the semi-finals.

“That might just be the best game of basketball I have ever had the privilege to be involved in”, stated Coach Michael Ball afterwards. “It had everything possible – two teams playing at their best, fighting to stay in the play-offs and high drama all the way through.”

The Solent team, having finished in 6^th place during the regular league season, were seeded to play away against Team Northumbria who had finished in 3^rd place. However although Solent had lost their two regular season league games against Northumbria, they were heading into Saturday’s play-off game having finished the season on a six game unbeaten run.

The first quarter started straight from the tip-off with Joann Overstreet attacking the basket off the dribble and scoring and then Annika Lohneiss and Quiana Overstreet scoring off put backs.

Calder got Northumbria going from the free throw line and was followed up with 3pointers from Vickers and Colbert whilst for Solent Caroline Turner scored a fastbreak layup. The teams continued to trade points with Solent always looking to score in transition and Team Northumbria executing their half court sets and hitting their perimeter shots.

A Tuner steal and coast to coast drive followed up by a three pointer off an assist from Lynne Powell gave Solent a 17-12 lead with 4 3 minutes left in the quarter. However the ever dependable Team Northumbria American duo of Hall and Colbert cut the Solent lead before Jess Brookfield scored 5 points in transition and after Allen scored the quarter finished with Solent leading 25-19.

The second quarter started in similar fashion to the first with teams trading baskets. Turner hit a three pointer off an assist from Carrie Jones and Calder replied with two free throws that forced Copeland to sit on the bench with two fouls. Then Kathi Wohlberg committed her third foul and Team Northumbria started on a remarkable offensive run with players knocking down shots from all over the court. In the last four and half minutes they did not miss a field goal and poured in 23 points with Solent only able to respond with 7 of their own.

The Solent team, having controlled most of the first half found themselves heading off to the half time talk trailing 37-47 and with the momentum firmly with the home side.

During the half time team talk the Head Coach Michal Ball and assistant coaches CJ Lee and Lee Ryan reminded the team that they still had 20 minutes left to turn the game around and that they had come back from similar situations before – however they had to get back to playing their style of basketball and would have to expect Northumbria, with a 10 point lead and with momentum on their side, to come out fighting.

The third quarter saw both teams step up their game further. First Northumbria stretched their lead out to 14 points with another 3 pointer - this time from Colbert, then Solent closed back to 10 points down after successive fastbreak points from Copeland after assists from Brookfield and Overstreet. Although halfway through the quarter and still 11 points down the game had turned into the type of game Solent enjoyed playing and with the tempo raised even higher they started to gradually reduce the deficit. With Overstreet and Brookfield pushing the ball in transition every opportunity they could the Team Northumbria players were beginning to feel the increase in tempo. However it did not seem to affect the ability of the home team to score from the perimeter and in particular Hall was still proving to be a handful for every Solent player assigned to her. When Copeland got a well deserved break with 2 minutes left in the half, Solent had reduced the lead to only 3 points. As both teams headed into the deciding last 10 minutes the score was Team Northumbria 72 Solent Suns 69.

The last quarter was an absolute thriller with 4 lead changes and 5 ties. The pace did not slacken as first Solent hauled themselves level after Overstreet made a steal and scored and then Northumbria answered with yet two more 3 pointers from Hall and Vickers. Wohlberg responded inside for Solent and after an assist from Wohlberg to Overstreet the score was tied at 84 with three minutes left to play. However Solent stepped up their defensive pressure further and first Solent went two up off yet another drive from Brookfield – but this was immediately answered by 2 points from Allen. Then two free throws from Turner were matched by a successful basket from Hall. However after Overstreet was fouled and hit two from two from the free throw line, Solent managed for once to stop Hall inside and then went down the other end and Overstreet found Wohlberg who made the jump shot to put Solent up by 4 points with 52 seconds left on the clock. As Northumbria attempted to score quickly it was Brookfield who came up with the crucial steal and with the clock running down Team Northumbria were unable to find the way back in the last few seconds and Overstreet iced the game from the free throw line to end a memorable Solent second half fight-back.

As both teams left the floor to a standing ovation from the Northumbria fans it was the Solent Suns who could now start to look forward to a semi-final encounter next Saturday at the Sheffield EIS.

“Team Northumbria were outstanding today. They hit 10 out of 15 three point shots and scored 46% of all their field goal attempts. They must wonder how after such an outstanding performance they have ended up on the losing side”, commented Coach Ball.

“I am so proud of the way that we just refused to lose. I guess down by double digits in the third quarter, away, with the home fans on a high it would have been so easy and predictable to bow out gracefully. But we have developed a real desire and absolute belief in the way we are playing over the last part of the regular season and we were just relentless in the second half against a very good team who also played at an exceptional level throughout.”

Coach Ball added, “now we have a week to prepare for the Final 4 semi-final. We have won seven games in a row so why can’t we make it eight? We might not have the experience of playing in these type of games but we have nothing to fear right now – as the sixth seeded team we should not be here – and a team with nothing to lose can sometimes be a very dangerous opponent.”

Points:

Solent: Caroline Turner 25, Jess Brookfield 24, Quiana Copeland 16, Joanne Overstreet 16, Katharina Wohlberg 6, Annika Lohneiss 4, Carrie Jones 3, Lynne Powell, Mandy Gerada, Jodi Jerram, Lianne Miller

Team Northumbria: Hall 30, Vickers 23, Calder 14, Colbert 12, Davison 5, Allen 4, Bennett, Cacheiro, Loader-Young, Murray, Scott, Melville

w/e 31/03/08

LONDON TOWERS 38 – 90 SOLENT SUNS

SOLENT SUNS        76 – 53 UWIC ARCHERS

Solent Suns clinched 6^th place after their final two games of the National League season last weekend both resulted in victories. They will now be heading into the playoffs next Saturday on a 6 game winning streak.

Solent opened up the first of their double-header weekend with a convincing win over bottom of the table London Towers 90-38. The first quarter was a tight affair with Suns leading 20-16. However Solent started to hit their stride in the second quarter and took the game out to a 49-26 half time lead. The third and fourth quarters enabled Coach Ball to work on various defensive strategies and to give all the players time on court in preparation for the game against UWIC the following day. Suns continued to play hard and eventually took the game 90-38.

The victory over London set up a simple shoot-out between Solent and UWIC to decide who would finish in 6^th place overall as both teams had the same points heading into Sundays game.

Having lost the first away game to UWIC 74-48 it was likely to be a tough encounter but Solent are a very much a team on the way up whereas UWIC had been finding it difficult to retain their early season form.

The first quarter saw UWIC’s GB International Collins sink the first basket but it was to be the only lead UWIC had throughout the game and after a 3 point shot from much improved Annika Lohneiss the Suns never looked back. They steadily stretched out their lead with Quina Copeland and Katharina Wohlberg scoring inside and Joanne Overstreet and Caroline Turner scoring outside and the introduction of Jess Brookfield and Lynne Powell helped to take the Suns out to a 23-14 1^st quarter lead.

The second quarter saw UWIC trying to cut into Solents lead and both teams traded baskets. After 3 minutes a time-out for Solent and the reintroduction of Overstreet saw the Suns pull away with UWIC finding it difficult to score and Solent begin to really push the ball in transition. Carrie Jones hit a basket off an assist from Lohneiss and then Brookfield hit a fastbreak layup. With 2 minutes remaining in the quarter Solent introduced Jodi Jerram into the game and called their second timeout. Solent controlled the last couple of minutes with Brookfield making a 3 pointer off an assist from Sarah Cooper followed by another fastbreak basket from Brookfield to send Solent into the half time break with a commanding 49-27 lead.

The beginning of the third quarter did not see Solent back off at all and any fears that Coach Ball had of his team losing focus were completely unfounded as they went on a 14-0 run. Copeland and Wolhberg dominated scoring at the offensive end and completely dominating the defensive boards as UWIC continued their shooting woes. With Suns leading 63-27 and the game effectively won Coach Ball started to rotate all the players into the game giving him an opportunity to see players perform before the playoffs.

UWIC however went on a run themselves and closed the score to 63-43 into the 4^th quarter before Sarah Cooper got the scoreboard ticking over again followed up by a layup by Mandy Gerada. Solent Suns eventually winning the game 76-53.

“I was really happy with the teams’ performance over the weekend. Obviously it helps to win but I am most pleased with the progression of the players and the way the entire team is starting to play together at both ends of the court”, commented Coach Ball.

The team will now travel away to play Team Northumbria next Saturday in the National League Play-off Quarter Final.

Statistics v London Towers

Solent: Caroline Turner 19, Sarah Cooper 17, Carrie Jones 10, Joanne Overstreet 10, Katharina Wohlberg 9, Jess Brookfield 9, Lynne Powell 8, Quiana Copeland 5, Annika Lohneiss 2, Mandy Gerada 1, Jodi Jerram 0, Lizzie Cloke 0

London: Durojaye 12, Wanstall 10, Runciman 9, Henderson 5, Gyte 2, Keynes 0, Morton 0, Cripps 0 ,Okoli 0, Lyndsey 0

Statistics v UWIC

Solent: Quiana Copeland 13, Katharina Wohlberg 11, Jess Brookfield 11, Annika Lohneiss 10, Caroline Turner 9, Joanna Overstreet 8, Sarah Cooper 5, Mandy Gerada 4, Lynne Powell 3, Carrie Jones 2, Jodi Jerram 0, Lizzie Cloke 0

UWIC: Hopgood 12, Wagstaff 11, Collins 10, Zekite 6, Trott 5, Jennings 4, Short 3, Yalland 2, Murphy 0 , Diffey 0

SOLENT SUNS 74 – 54 LONDON HEATHROW ACERS

Solent Suns fourth win in a row against London Heathrow Acers on Saturday confirmed that Solent will be in the end of season play-offs as either a seventh or possibly sixth seed. Solent have two more regular season games left (versus London Towers and UWIC) and could enter the play-offs as the hottest team in the league.

The first quarter started with Solent extending their defence and causing immediate problems to the Acers opening up with a 10-0 run to put Solent in charge early on. After 5 minutes Acers put their first points on the board through the Da Silva sisters and followed this up with a 3 point shot from Piano. However Sarah Cooper and Lynne Powell had come off the bench to score and with all five Solent starters having put points on the board Solent ended the quarter leading 18-9.

The second quarter was a much more competitive affair with both teams trading baskets. After P Da Silva split a pair of free-throws the visitors had reduced the lead down to 7 points but a great drive by Jo Overstreet, two successful free-throws from Quiana Copeland and a great finish off a Suns fast break from Powell saw Solent stretch the lead back out to 37-23 at the half.

The third quarter started with Acers L Da Silva hitting a jump shot but then Solent stepped up their defensive effort and went on a 11-0 run with Caroline Turner hitting on the perimeter and Kathi Wohlberg and Copeland scoring inside and Overstreet running the team from the point it was an impressive 4 minutes at both ends of the floor for Solent leading to a 48-25 lead midway through the quarter. Again the two teams traded baskets with Cooper again making an impact in transition and with one quarter left Solent held a 59-39 lead.

The last quarter gave Coach Ball an opportunity to ensure all his team got on court and to begin to look at a few players that have not been in the squad in recent weeks. Lizzy Cloke got fouled attacking the basket and hit two from two from the line and then Jodi Jerram hit a basket to keep the lead at 20 points. With Mandy Gerrada then hitting 2 points the game was finished off with Copeland getting to the free throw line to give Solent Suns a 74-54 victory.

“It was important for us to maintain our momentum today and to secure seventh place in the play-offs. We showed in patches today the level that we can play at but we now need to ensure that we maintain this level of intensity throughout each of our last two league games. We know that we are playing catch up with the rest of the teams in the league as our season has started really late. We now have everyone back from injury and all players are available for selection – if we can maintain the level of application we have shown in practice over the last two weeks we can improve still further before the play-offs arrive” commented Coach Ball.

Solent play their last two games of the season against London Towers away on Saturday March 29^th and the last league game against UWIC Archers on Sunday March 30^th at Hamble Community Sports Centre.

Points:

Solent: Overstreet 17, Copeland 14, Turner 13, Wohlberg 10, Powell 8, Cooper 4, Jerram 3, Cloke 2, Gerada 2, Lohneiss 1, Jones

Heathrow: P Da Silva 15, L Da Silva 12, Piano 8, Lear 8, Thompson 4, Erin 3, Marquez 2, Codiga 2, Leonard