The Newcastle Eagles travel to Nottingham to take on the Wildcats today in their third SLB Championship game of the season looking to keep their own 100% league record intact and continue their great start to the campaign.
Last weekend Newcastle took a 79-60 victory at home against London Lions to go 2-0 in Championship play. They were led by Andrea Daley who had an incredible double-double of 25 points and 14 rebounds.
The USA forward is certainly enjoying life on Tyneside and attributes a lot to her teammates and coaches as she commented after last week’s game.
“My teammates, Coach Chloe (Gaynor) and the other coaches are amazing. They are always supporting me, making sure my heads in the game at all times that’s what makes sure I’m good and gets me going every single game.”
More of that is needed when they face the Wildcats on Saturday evening hoping to record their second win in Nottingham this season.
The two sides met competitively this season in the Betty Codona Trophy back on September 27 when the Eagles took the road win 62-56. Head Coach Chloe Gaynor will be looking for her side to at least match that victory.
A game that saw Shanique Lucas top score for Newcastle with 16 points but the MVP honours went to Daley who had 13 points and an incredible 17 rebounds. The American has been a shining light for Gaynor and her team this season.
The Eagles will face a Wildcats side that has failed to win a single game this season. After losing all four Trophy games, Nottingham have followed that by losing all three games they’ve played in the SLB Championship so far.
But Newcastle will not take them lightly especially as they will continue to be without key players still suffering from injuries. Daley though thinks they can still get the job done.
“I think we’re fine. It doesn’t matter if we have five players or ten players. I’ll put my five against anybody else’s five. I love that about this team. We’re very versatile and are able to adjust.”
Having won two games playing under-strength has given Newcastle lots of confidence going into the Nottingham game. Looking forward to that and what’s to come Daley feels this side can have a big say in the SLB Championship.
“If we get a few players back then we could be in a very strong position going forward but we don’t want to get carried away. We’re just going to take it one game at a time as always and concentrate on trying to get the right result in the next game.”
Having Daley on the court is at times liking having two players contributing such is her presence at both ends of the floor. With home SLB wins against Essex and London under their belts Newcastle now face their first league road game still short-handed.
But they have confidence flowing through them. Those on court and playing are showing a togetherness and toughness that is boding them well. They’ll need all that to take the win on Saturday evening.
