Hatters v Archers highlights D1 Women schedule
21st January 2011by Dave Ryan
The top two in Women's EBL Division One meet at All Saints School on Saturday as City Of Sheffield Hatters host UWIC Archers in a game which could go a long way towards deciding the destination of the 2010/11 title.
Archers go into the game top of the table with an 8-1 record, with Hatters sitting one win behind them in second place, but with a game in hand.
The Hatters' only loss this season came when they travelled to meet the Archers in Cardiff at the beginning of November, but it took overtime before Damian Jennings' team collected the 76-70 victory.
Led by 25 Stef Collins points, the hosts held their title rivals to just two points in the overtime period to take pole position in the table.
"We are looking forward to the challenge Saturday," said Jennings. "Whatever the outcome it is going to be a battle to the end and although everyone outside will be watching the result, there are simply too many tough games for everyone to call this one a league decider.
"Our preparation has been mixed with obviously a solid New Year tour to Belgium and our win against Barking, but we are carrying a few niggles and illness bugs that has prevented a fully attended practice this week. That said I have every confidence in whichever 12 kit up for the Archers on Saturday, and we of course want to add weight to our home win back in 2010."
The game is a repeat of last season's playoff final where Archers gained revenge for a pair of losses against league winners Hatters with a come-from-behind victory.
Sevenoaks Suns will look to continue their good run when they host strugglers Team Northumbria on Saturday before third placed Nottingham Wildcats are the visitors the following afternoon.
The Suns are now up to fifth place with a 4-5 record, while Nottingham are third with seven wins from nine games and Northumbria's win against Brixton Topcats last week saw them move off the bottom as they recorded their first victory of the season at the eighth attempt.
Sevenoaks, however, have recently lost the services of Rosalee Mason who has departed for Sweden to continue national league play in Scandinavia. The former British forward leaves the EBL in the top five in scoring (24ppg), rebounding (8.7rpg), 2pt% (56.3%) and free throw percentage (85%).
When the Suns travelled to Nottingham in November, the home team led for most of the game but were made to fight all of the way before recording an 81-74 victory.
"The Sevenoaks game offers us a tough competition before our Cup final next week," said Wildcats coach Phil Waghorn. "They are a good team and we had to fight hard for the win last time we played.
"I expect it to be even tougher this time around as they have been building in confidence with a couple of good wins against Leeds before and after the Christmas break. Both sides had influential players who didn't play in the first encounter, Kristine Lewis for Sevenoaks and Lele Hardy for Wildcats, so it will be an interesting game."
It will be the first meeting between the Suns and Northumbria this season but in 2009/10, the north east side completed a double with a 75-67 road win in November and a comfortable 74-56 home success in March.
Team Northumbria move on to Barking Abbey on Sunday to face the Leopards, and will look to avenge November's 70-53 home loss against the Leopards.
Nimah Dwyer led all scorers with 24 points and 11 rebounds for the visitors - agonisingly missing a triple-double by a single assist as well as collecting a couple of steals. Christina Gaskin also finished with a double-double of 11 points and 12 boards, while Shequila Joseph pulled down nine rebounds to go with her ten points. Ta'Yani Clark had 17 defensive rebounds and six assists to go with her 17 points, while Kristen London (14) and Zoe Vickers (13) completed the Northumbria top scorers.
Leopards' loss at leaders UWIC last week saw them remain in sixth place with a 3-7 record, and coach Jennings is looking for them to bounce back after that defeat. "We need a strong 40 minutes to overcome Northumbria," he said.
"The size and offensive strength they have added in Laura Calder paid immediate dividends with their win over Brixton last weekend. For us, we need to play with consistency for the whole game. We need to eliminate some of the individual and team errors - both mental and physical. If we can do that, the result should take care of itself."
There's also action elsewhere in the capital as Brixton Topcats host Leeds Carnegie, and the home side will be looking for revenge after their 69-58 loss in Yorkshire early in the campaign.
Jo Clayden led the hosts with 17 points, who fought back from a 22-7 first period deficit. with Eszter Velkey and Tina Menz each scoring ten, while Tereza Prouzova was the only Topcat to join Ijeoma Ofomata (20) in double figures with 11 points.
Topcats dropped to the bottom of the table following their losses at Nottingham and Northumbria last week, and as they reach the midway point of the season they'll be looking to improve on their 1-9 record. Meanwhile Leeds will be aiming to end a run which has seen them only once in four league losses games which has seen them drop down to fourth with six wins from 11 games.