Newcastle Eagles face a quick turnaround following their excellent 100-92 win in London on Thursday night as they take on the Nottingham Wildcats in the Vertu Arena on Saturday night in another crucial SLBW Championship match-up.
Thursday’s superb road win took Head Coach Chloe Gaynor’s side to 4th place in the standings with a 10-win 5 loss record. A remarkable achievement given all the adversity they have been through this season.
Even against Lions they faced more of that. The injured Alyssa Marin and unavailable Harriett Ottewill-Soulsby joining Maria Mongomo as not being part of the Eagles roster. Coach Gaynor indeed becoming a player-coach once again for the time being.
Gaynor had 2-points in 4:48 on court but crucially her team were +13 when she was on the floor as she described what she felt was the deciding factor in the game.
“I thought we were excellent at drawing fouls and handling the physicality. We were able to get to the line and capitalise. That was what ultimately set the game apart.”
The Eagles went to the charity strip 36 times on the night and drained a highly impressive 33 of those free throw attempts. They also outrebounded London 48-26 and scored 56 points in the paint. An impressive powerful effort.
London did light things up from outside the arc making 17 of 33 3-point shots attempted which kept them in the game and Gaynor did refer to that when looking for areas of improvement.
“Defensively there were definitely areas for improvement. London shot the ball very well from 3 but ultimately there were some missed closeouts and wrong coverages. Ultimately, we got the job done and capitalised on the areas we should’ve done.”
Once again Eagles were led by a superb double-double from the League’s leading scorer and rebounder Andrea Daley who added seven assists to a wonderful 35 points and 15 rebounds. Shanique Lucas another stellar night with 20 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists.
Sarah Wells with 18 points and 6 rebounds and Jada Dapaa with 16 points and 4 rebounds the other double figure contributors and main support although in fairness every Eagle that took to the court played a crucial and full part.
So, a great win but now Newcastle must get their minds set on the Wildcats and Saturday night. They did beat Nottingham on the Wildcats own court by a massive 85-56 earlier in the season and would no doubt love a repeat of that.
Nottingham currently have a 4-win 11 loss record and have lost their last four games. But they are still in the last play-off position of eighth and desperate to hang on to that placing. Gaynor knows that it is not an easy game.
“London was an important win and sets us in good stead for Saturday. We have a quick turnaround and Nottingham have had improved performances of late. So, we need to be locked in Friday at practice and Saturday in order to get a good team performance and ultimately a win.”
A win on Saturday would certainly help the Eagles in their quest for a home game in the End of Season quarter-final play-off and they’re looking for a big support to help them in a game that tips-off in the Vertu Arena at 7:30pm.
Tickets are available from the box office.
