It‘s Halloween and Head Coach Chloe Gaynor and her Newcastle Eagles are hoping to avoid a scare when they take the long trip to Essex Rebels on Saturday afternoon in Women’s Super League Basketball.
A Championship clash sure to be a thriller between two sides looking for a vital win.
For the Eagles it is a chance to get back to winning ways after two very similar defeats in their last two games. At Caledonia two weeks ago, Newcastle were right in the game until falling away in the final ten minutes.
Last week against Sheffield at home they were even closer as they actually led in the opening moments of the fourth quarter before the Hatters took over and, in the end, took a 99 – 82 win that was perhaps not as close as the final score indicated.
The match-up against Essex is a very important game the Eagles who look to define their season.
“I think more so the importance is on having a positive and winning second half,” said Gaynor.
“Essex is a notoriously difficult trip, it’s a long way to go, they have a solid home environment, and we will have to play well across the whole game to come away with a win.
“We’ve had games where we have made a solid start and we just need to get to a point where we are a 40-minute team. We need to play with a little more composure on both ends of the floor with the understanding of maintaining intensity and making winning plays in the 4th quarters.”
Those last two games have taken the Eagles to a 2-win 2 loss record and they want to get their record back up .500.
The Rebels have not made the best of starts and are currently 1-win 3 losses losing heavily 66 – 101 at home last weekend to Manchester.
Essex though do have the League’s leading rebounder in Lara Rohkohl who is pulling down 12.5 boards per game as well as scoring 16.5 points per game. Alexa Mikeska also a danger averaging an impressive 14 points, 8.8 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 4.3 steals per game.
Gaynor though believes that the Rebels have other areas where they can cause Newcastle problems as she outlined what she believes her side need to quell the Rebels charge.
“Essex are shooting a lot of 3s and have multiple players shooting well. We need to make sure we’re protecting the 3pt line defensively,” the head coach added.
“Offensively we need to be able to flow into our offensive actions and capitalise in the areas we think we can take advantage.”
The likes of ‘JK’ Johnson, Maddy Hinton, Nala Williams. Raven Thompson and Polly Storie in particular have made impressive starts to their Newcastle and SLB careers.
“We need to protect the 3pt line, take care of the boards, and have a complete performance,” Gaynor continued.
“We have to be able to maintain our intensity and identity across the 40 minutes.”
If the Eagles can do their Coach’s bidding and get their focus right on the day, then they will put themselves in a good position to bring home a win from the Essex Sports Arena, Colchester, in a game that tips-off at 4:00pm.
The game is free to watch live on the Women’s SLB YouTube channel.
