The Seriös Group Newcastle Eagles produced a stunning comeback and dramatic finish to take a crucial 71 – 67 point win in the Women’s British Basketball League on Saturday night in The Vertu Motors Arena.
Trailing by seven points with just two minutes and three seconds left on the clock, Newcastle closed the game out with 11 unanswered points to give their end of season playoff chase a timely boost.
They are now consolidated in sixth place in the table with games against winless Cardiff on the road and a final home game against second bottom Manchester on Saturday 27thApril.
Games that are very winnable and could enable The Eagles to fly into the end of season competition with real momentum in their favour and confidence sky-high.
Newcastle were boosted before the game with long-term injury absentee Courtney Clasen returning to the roster. She certainly made a decisive and huge impact on the win hitting three triples in her 13 points.
Sharpshooting Abby Lowe went one better with four triples in her 15 point haul and as ever, All-Star forward Tierra Hodges led the team superbly with yet another double-double performance of 21 points and 10 rebounds.
Hodges though post-game was quick to praise all her teammates and the parts they all played in getting Newcastle over the line in what could be their most significant win of the season so far.
“I think we all kind of played a big part in that win. There was a lot of big buckets from so many players, big rebounds and stops. I think it was a really good team effort because it was a tough game.”
“Oaklands is a really good team. They were up for almost the entire game but we believed in ourselves. We’ve worked for these moments, we’ve practised these moments we just had to believe we could get the stops and convert the buckets we needed to win.”
Hodges went on to praise the part that Clasen had made on her return from injury and how she felt that her colleague had made such a big difference from the bench.
“She’s part of our engine and you could see that. She comes in and does exactly what we need. She’s one of the sparks off the bench that makes a difference for us and was a big part of what turned the game around for us.”
“This was a big win and will put us on a high for the next two games. We know that those games are not promised. We have to go off from this game and learn from our mistakes because it wasn’t a perfect game from us.”
“If we can do that and keep pushing forward from it then hopefully the next two can be wins for us as we head into the playoffs.”
Hodges was also really pleased with the fact that she and her teammates went hard for the full forty minutes which is something Head Coach Matt Newby has often talked about.
“That’s our goal. Coach reiterates it during practice. 40 minutes, 40 minutes over and over. You can’t play 40 minutes in one minute it has to be quarter by quarter, minute by minute and just try to be the best we can. I think we did that today and he’ll be pleased.”
Cardiff and Manchester await. Hodges can’t wait to play those games and hopefully build on the momentum that Saturday’s win brought.
“We need those games and if we keep practicing stay together and believe we can get them which will mean we’ll go into the playoffs with great confidence. Hopefully we’ll have another great crowd for the Manchester game at home and that’ll help us get over the line.”
