WNBL Division One
Southwark Pride 70 – Ipswich Basketball 90
Ipswich made it five wins in a row with a solid performance to start the new year, at Southwark Pride. The Suffolk side led from the game’s opening exchanges until the final buzzer, behind a rounded team performance led by 34 points from Harriet Welham, supported by multiple players in double figures, including a best game of the season for Danni Cazey and fourteen points from the returning Esther Little.
Ipswich head into next weekend with an impressive 8-2 record, good for second place in the league. However, next weekend’s game see’s them host league leading Anglia Ruskin, who’s 9-1 record sets up a mouth-watering top of the table clash. If Ipswich can pull off the win, it will see them sitting top of the table with seven games to play. A loss will still keep them very much in the mix for a high play-off seeding, something that didn’t look likely at the start of the season, as the team has battled something of a freak injury crisis that has seen Little, Susannah Rafiu, Becky Harwood-Bellis and Cameron Taylor-Willis all miss multiple games.
“This was a key win against a team that are known for being very resilient and tough to beat, especially at home” Said Ipswich Head Coach Nick Drane. Drane added “We have got through a very difficult period of the season, and we said if we could be in the top four at the break, we would be happy, so to be in second is great. But, we want to keep this momentum going now and see what we can achieve in the second half of the season”.
Ipswich host ARU next Saturday at 3pm at Copleston in a game is likely to have a major influence on the final league standings.
Top Scorers:
Harriet Welham 34, Esther Little 14 and Coco Leung 13
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