Newcastle Eagles travel to Leicester to take on The Riders on Saturday evening in a crucial Super League Basketball Women’s Championship.

The two sides last met on the opening day of the league season in Newcastle with Leicester winning narrowly in overtime 82 – 78.

Head Coach Chloe Gaynor and her players will be looking to reverse that result and get parody in the League series particularly as Riders are a side that will be in and around the playoff positions. The Eagles also need to bounce back from their last game which was a 82 – 74 loss at Caledonia.

In that game Newcastle pushed the Trophy winning Gladiators all the way and only fell away late in the final quarter as foul trouble and a short-handed bench went against them. Gaynor started her preview of the Leicester clash by taking real positives out of the Caledonia loss.

“It was a promising game and a step in the right direction in proving to ourselves that when we play with pace, energy and intensity we can be up there competing with the top teams in this league and rightfully so”, Gaynor said.

“It was definitely a game for positive cultural standards and one we can build from.

Building on the standards she sets her players is important to Gaynor as she assessed a Leicester side who have just lost American import Brittany Hodges who has left the Club despite averaging 13.7 points and 12.3 rebounds a game.

“Leicester have had some interesting results throughout the season but have had some good wins too – we cannot be complacent in looking at some of their results”, the player-coach added.

”We know they are well coached and have some good players who know their roles and that’s always tough to play against.

“I think it was tough to take that OT loss against them at the beginning of the season. Obviously we have been through a lot of change since then and we are growing week by week and so have a positive mindset heading into the game.

“I think it’s a super important game for us. Especially considering the loss at home to start the season. We have to take care of business if we want to be in and around the top of the table. Every game is about us getting better to be our best self towards the business end of the season.”

As always, Gaynor is very clear about what her side has to do when it comes to the keys to the game. Her philosophy is about how her side looks after themselves no matter what the opposition is in front of them.

“Our pre-game mentality is not dissimilar to Caledonia and other games we are trying to set the tone defensively – that has to be the priority”, Gaynor concluded

“We have to take care of individual match ups and play with a purpose.”

Under Gaynor this Eagles side is week by week and game by game taking on board the Coach’s mentality and style. A win on the road in Leicester, a notoriously difficult place to get a win, would certainly signal how much Newcastle are focused on becoming the best version of themselves.

Tip-off at The Mattioli Arena in Leicester is at 6:00pm and fans can watch live on the league’s YouTube channel.