Newcastle Eagles women’s excellent 81-75 win over Durham Palatinates las weekend perhaps didn’t garner the full appreciation and respect it deserved.

No-one doubted that Head Coach Chloe Gaynor’s side deserved the win but it was against more adversity than perhaps was realised.

Kendall Currence who has been a consistent supporting third scorer to the one-two punch of Jada Guinn and Tierra Hodges was only just back from injury and Gaynor was under orders from the physio team not to play her more than 15 minutes.

Then after netting 15 points in only 15 minutes played in the first half Hodges picked up an injury which ended her game early. Luckily her contribution along with her teammates had enabled Newcastle to establish an 18-point lead.

But they needed to find a way to combat Currence and Hodges unavailability in the second half and whilst all stepped no-one more so than Abby Lowe and Lauren Saiki. Lowe was back to her effervescent energy giving self and had 15 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals in an excellent effort.

Saiki though just pipped her in the MVP stakes as she controlled the tempo of the game particularly I the second half to help the Eagles hold off a determined Durham fightback. Thirteen points, 11 assists and 7 steals her statistics as her on-court presence was a major factor in a great win.

“The only real stat that matters is we got 81 points and Durham got 75″, said Saiki.

“It was a very exciting game against Durham in the derby with a great showing from the fans of both sides but so happy to be on the high side of all of it.

“At half-time we were happy to be up so much as Durham always makes it tough and try to keep you out of your rhythm.

Without T [Tierra Hodges] and with Kendall [Currence] being restricted, we had some people step up and it was nice to get some easy ones from our defensive work. I was happy to get going from there.

Towards the end of the game Durham really started believing that they could cut the gap but it seemed as if Saiki was in control of the game for the Eagles and continually ran good plays and slowed the game down in the right way.

“Durham play a running jump trapping sort of style so they try to speed you up to make you make mistakes and at times they did that”, the 5’3” Californian added.

“We kind of came out a bit slow in the second half and got lured into their traps.

“But we found ball movement especially in the later part of the game and that’s what enabled us to get some of the easier ones we needed to stay in front and bring us home for the win.”

The win took Newcastle to a seven wins three losses record, landing fourth in the overall standings. Testimony to the job player-coach Chloe Gaynor has done since taking the reins and the way her players have responded in a tough competition.

“This league is really exciting this year with everyone being very competitive”, Saiki commented.

“So being able to be top of the chasing pack to the top three teams makes things interesting when going into the play-offs which is always an exciting time.

The team’s attention now turns to the Sheffield and there SLB Cup Semi-Final. Saiki is under no illusions as to how big a task that is especially after taking a heavy 36-point loss at home in their first league game of 2025.

“It’s absolutely going to be a tough game”, the point guard concluded.

“It’s exciting to be in a semi-final and going away to somewhere we went last year in the play-offs, which we won, so we’re used to the environment, although a Friday night is a little unusual.

“We have had a good week of practice and preparation running into the game. Hopefully we will make a good run at getting to another final, which is obviously the goal.”

The tip-off at the Canon Medical Arena on Friday night is at 7:30pm. Over 30 Eagles fans are already set to travel and those supporting from home can watch live on YouTube.