Oaklands College Wolves defeat Oxford City Hoops to Win National Trophy

By Calum Newsham on February 22, 2015

A youthful Oaklands College Wolves converted their undefeated season into silverware with a 73-54 win over Oxford City Hoops to land the Women’s National Trophy.

Lead by 19 points and 9 rebounds from Kyla Nelson the Wolves never trailed in the game, using organised defense and balanced offence to build their victory from the starting seconds.

Vicky Grey caught fire in the first half, hitting a number of shots from behind the ark, this combined with excellent play on both ends of the court from Kyla Nelson gave Oaklands a 44-30 lead at the half. Bright sparks from Oxford came from guard Anne Delextrat, who set up Stacey Thompson for a number of baskets throughout the half.

The third quarter saw a bigger surge of energy from the hoops, with great persistence from Abigail Young providing a spark for the team. But consistent play from Oaklands stars meant they edged out the quarter 12-11.

The 4th quarter saw much of the same from both teams, with Oxford still struggling to find a winning style of offence and the Wolves continuing to control the tempo of the game. A nice pick and roll between Oxford’s Delextrat and Young was answered by a similar play at the other end between Nelson and Paige Robinson, before a pair of Beth Sarson threes in the left corner rounded off a solid 73-54 win for Oaklands.

Nelson consistently piled up points throughout the game, making numerous crucial for Oaklands, resulting in her 19 point performance earning her the MVP award. But all of the Wolves starting 5 had impressive numbers which led to the National Trophy win, with 16 points and eight steals from Beth Sarson, 14 points from Vicky Gray and a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds by Mel George. Oxford were led by 17 points from Ella Joines, with Abigail Young adding 16 and nine rebounds. Stacey Thompson’s 12 points and 18 rebounds made her the most efficient player on the court, but Oxford couldn’t pull together the plays to make a convincing run at the victory.

Oakland Coach Lee Ryan summed up the game: “The key for us today was that we came out strong. We started aggressively and did a really good job of maintaining a high tempo”

“Oxford are a really good team, but the girls did a great job defensively and did it consistently across the forty minutes. We’re very young but we have a lot of national team junior girls in our academy. This win proves that we can compete no matter what level we’re playing at”

Image credit: oaklands.ac.uk

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