After a great second half performance that saw Newcastle Eagles over the line and back to winning ways last Saturday against Nottingham Wildcats, Head Coach Chloe Gaynor takes her team north and over the border for their next game.

They travel to East Kilbride to take on Caledonia Gladiators on Sunday afternoon. The Gladiators being one of the sides in and around them in the Super League Basketball Women’s Championship race. It is another tough encounter for Gaynor’s players.

The Head Coach previewed the visit to Caledonia by first of all looking back at her side’s 84 – 69 win over Nottingham.

“It was a step in the right direction. We watched extensive video from the Sheffield game and had a bit of a reset in defining what we wanted on both ends of the floor and from us behaviourally and how we wanted to move forward from that”, said Gaynor.

“I think the team did a good job on and off the floor of finding a way back to our standards. Even at the end of the third it was only a ten-point game and it was only blown up in the final five minutes of the game.”

“They posed us some problems in the 3-2 zone which was something we hadn’t seen a lot of. The girls did well in adjusting to that being for the majority of the game. It allowed us to see some solutions on the floor within our own system and we did a decent job.”

Pre-season the buzz and the vibe surrounding Caledonia was that they were very much going to be the team to beat. It hasn’t quite worked out that way with Gladiators having lost four league games so far to The Eagles two.

“Everyone expected them to dominate and they haven’t. They’ve lost a few games that people didn’t expect. It gives teams confidence to go to Caledonia and play a game. Regardless you can’t not be aware of the threat that they have in all positions.”

“They have had some good games, they’ve still made a Final, they are a strong team and not to be neglected or disrespected.”

“For me our keys are about us always trying to be the best version of ourselves and continuing to find and build on that. We do look at what other teams have and their strengths and weaknesses and how we exploit that and how we defend that.”

“But it’s about what happens with us and how we play and how we uphold ourselves and how we adjust to them adjusting to cope with us.”

Last weekend against Nottingham, Jada Guinn and Tierra Hodges were excellent for Newcastle and at times almost unplayable. It was a great bounce back performance from both players after they struggled against a powerful Sheffield side.

Gaynor is aware she needs big games from them both to assist the efforts against Caledonia.

“We recognise that they are two people that are going to be at the top of the scouting report and have been consistently for a while now. ‘T’ last season as well. They lead the way especially on the offence side of the floor.”

“It’s about the individual basketball players of Jada and T trying to find solutions, add strings to their bow and then me and the rest of the team facilitating for them and stepping up when they need to share the load.”

The game at PlaySport Arena, East Kilbride tips off at 4:00pm on Sunday afternoon and is free to watch live on the league’s YouTube channel.