This was an exciting match for Birmingham as it was a chance to bring home a win after a disappointing loss in the previous game against the University of Nottingham. Before the game the teams appeared fairly evenly matched in ability, with Birmingham currently sitting 5th in the league and UEA 6th, only a mere 3 points behind. We were thus expecting a tight match, but Birmingham Lions put in a spectacular performance and left UEA in the dust.
The first quarter saw Birmingham take an early lead, with good defence and skilful tackling Birmingham led the quarter 8-12. UEA’s number seven was in a league of her own, and really made Birmingham’s players work for all the points they acquired. Fantastic use of communication in defence by Hannah Garner lead to Jing Zou performing an excellent interception and taking a successful shot on goal which put Birmingham in the lead by the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter Birmingham stormed ahead, bringing the score to 20-33. This quarter saw two great long distance shots from Isabel Hutchinson Cervantes and Rochelle Mackenzie-Spooner. Birmingham also made good use of their many substitutes, bringing on five subs half way through the quarter, keeping the girls fresh, whereas UEA were definitely lacking in subs and chose to keep all their players on the court. A final basket from Birmingham in the last ten seconds put the game beyond UEA.
The third quarter saw Birmingham step up a gear or two and extend their ever-growing lead over UEA, putting the game well beyond doubt. Birmingham again made use of their subs, bringing four girls back on and this really was to their advantage as sub Amy Minter sinked fantastic long-range shot bringing the score to 24-43 and another two shortly after, bringing the final score at the end of the quarter to 26-49 to Birmingham.
The final quarter Birmingham already had a win in the bag but this didn’t stop them making several attempts at goal. Amy Minter made several successful shots at goal, definitely earning the position of highest point scorer for Birmingham. The quarter ended with the final score reading 43-63. Birmingham fully deserved their win after a solid performance, in which they were better than UEA, on the day, in all aspects of their game.
Jessica Best
