Women’s BUCS Basketball Final 8’s Day 1 Recap

By Joe Pinchin | @jpincho22

Final 8’s kicked off in Sheffield yesterday, with four games on the Women’s side. Here is how it went down…

Game 1
Leeds Met beat Oxford 83-69

After a shaky opening period from the southern team, Oxford were left chasing Leeds Met. Despite good performances from Oxford’s import players Lindsay Whorton (34 points), and Sarah Lowe (13 points), Leeds were able to execute well and close the game to advance to the semi finals. Carnegie’s scoring was led by Tina Menz (17), Deanne Haywood (15) and Nicollette Fong Lyew Quee (14).

Game 2
Northumbria beat LSBU 67-60

Northumbria took the ball at LSBU from the word go, pressing the London team and looking to break off of their turnovers. Foul trouble really hit LSBU hard as Ijeoma Ofomata headed to bench with two early fouls in the game and picked up her fourth before the half. London continued to remain within around six points of Northumbria but each time they cut into this lead Ta’yani Clark would seize control of the game and make back-to-back plays to keep her team afloat through to the final buzzer. Clark finished with a game high 27 points for Northumbria whilst London South Bank were lead by Ofomata’s 18 points and Rachel James’ 17.

Game 3
UWIC routed Loughborough 93-46

UWIC dispatched Loughborough with a suffocating full court press, leading to turnovers and easy scores for Welsh side. Loughborough competed with the defending champions in places but could not sustain these periods for long enough to stop UWIC building on their lead as the game went on. Sarah Wagstaff and Stef Collins led UWIC with 15 and 14 points each whilst Naomi Campbell and Sophie Soitel totaled 15 each for Loughborough.

Game 4
Durham routed London Met 84-45

Durham looked in control from the tip in the final game of the day. Durham’s Leah Rush took the point to start the game but was looking to distribute, going inside early to Katrin Hulme and Kim Bennett. The northern side opened up a double digit lead early and continued to build on this throughout the game, Rush, Hulme and Bennett all getting to the basket and finishing strong throughout. The trio finished with 20, 17 and 26 points respectively as Durham just proved too much for London Met. The London side was led by Antoaneta Stoykova who finished with 12 points.

Saturday March 19th Schedule

11am – LSBU v Loughborough
1pm – MMU Cheshire vs UWIC 2 (Trophy Final)
3pm – Leeds Met v Northumbria (Semi Final 1)
5pm – Oxford v London Met
7pm – UWIC v Durham (Semi Final 2)

Notes

• Durham’s Leah Rush played at Oklahoma State, where she is the 12th all time leading scorer, as well as professionally overseas, before coming to the UK. Today she controlled the game playing inside and out. It will be very interesting to see how UWIC try and limit her impact tomorrow.

• As well as Rush Durham’s team consists of talented professional players including Jamaican, Kim Bennett and Spaniard, Noelia Cacherio Quintas, making them very exciting to watch.

• Nicollette Fong Lyew Quee from Leeds does very well going to basket against large players and provided some highlight plays on the first day of the competition.

• It was the same story last year; Ta’yani Clark controls all aspects of the game for Northumbria. Today finishing with 27 points, more than 11 rebounds (..I lost count at this point) and numerous assists.

• Other than a few suspect calls, the level of officiating, on the women’s side at least, looks a lot better this year. A vast improvement on last year Championships…let’s see if this continues tomorrow.

• UWIC were without Leah Dehaan (missing due to tonsillitis, hoping to return today)

• Loughborough will be hoping starter Jennie Rodgers is a little more recuperated for the match up against LSBU after also suffering from tonsillitis the past week. She played yesterday but struggled, Loughborough will need her regular scoring effort to beat a strong LSBU team.
• For regular Women’s Final 8’s updates throughout the day, follow @jpincho22

What do you think of the first day of results? Predictions for today? Drop a comment!