It’s International Women’s Day and what better way to celebrate it than with a top-flight professional basketball game in the Vertu Motors Arena.

The Eagles take on Caledonia Gladiators in the SLB Women’s Championship looking to build on last weekend’s super win over Oaklands Wolves.

Newcastle’s shooting guard Sarah Birkett was the impact X-Factor with 15 points in that win.

“I personally felt great after that game. Obviously it was a great performance from me but more than anything belief in us was key”, said Birkett.

“I couldn’t have done that without my teammates trusting me with to take those shots.

“It starts in practice knocking those shots down but to have it happen in game-time was huge.

“We just really believed in us that we were the better team on that day and it showed in the result.

“We knew we were down a couple of players. Tierra Hodges struggling with her ankle injury as well. All you can hope for in those scenarios is that your bench players step up. Last weekend was my weekend to step up and it was huge for me.

“You do have to be ready when you’re called. Everybody has to be ready. We talk a lot about this in our team discussions. Five people don’t win games. All thirteen of us on the roster do. Our bench energy matters. Whether it’s two minutes or 15 minutes you have to go out and give it your all.

Next up tonight is SLB Trophy Winners Caledonia Gladiators the only other side to have beaten Oaklands this season in the final.

“We’re really confident. Coming off the win against Oaklands is huge for us and we’re chasing one of those top table spots”, the shooting guard added.

“The motivation is really high. It’s confidence boosting for us to see everyone scoring. We had five players in double-figures so it wasn’t anyone person that got us over the line.

“It was a real team effort. We firmly believe and we’ve seen and executed in this manner that we can be the better team when we go out on court.

The last time these two sides met was up in East Kilbride in the league with the Gladiators taking the win 82 – 74 in a tight encounter.

“This game is about us”, the 5’7′ second-season Eagle concluded, adding: “When you look at how close we brought them last time there were things that we definitely could have done better and it was still a close game and we weren’t perfect.

“If we get a near perfect game and do everything right it’s without a doubt that we can get a win.

“It’s definitely about us honing in on our strengths and not having to worry about them. Coming into International Women’s Day we want to show as much support as we can to this women’s programme that has grown so much over the last couple of years and we want to keep that going.

“Last week was huge. New fans who hadn’t been to a game before and definitely want to come back. So, I’m really excited for that and looking at growing we have so many big games coming up to this end stretch to the season.

“I’m really looking forward to a big fan turnout as well. It’s a Northern Derby, England v Scotland so I’m excited to play in front of another great Eagles crowd.”

Tickets are available on the box office and on the door tonight.