MK Breakers Women (83) v Charnwood Riders Women (55)
MK Breakers started their league campaign with an 83-55 win over Charnwood Riders. All the work done during pre-season proved worthwhile as the Breakers jumped to an early lead. A combination of solid team defence and well organised offences gave Breakers a 22-9 lead after the first quarter.
However, a determined Riders team made it clear that they had no intention of rolling over. They intensified their defence and mounted a comeback. Despite their impressive efforts, they could only close the gap by two in the second quarter and the Breakers entered the mid-game break with the score standing at 33-22.
Breakers started the second-half with the aim of tightening up the defence and the plan worked. Thanks to a series of steals and well-worked offences, Breakers dominated the quarter (23-8). The period ended with the play of the day from the MK side. With just five seconds left on the clock, Riders had a sideline possession and the opportunity for the final shot in the period. However, a high IQ defensive play from Diane Addo followed by a steal and score from Kirsten Moran gave the Breakers the final shot and a 56-30 lead.
Going into the final quarter, Riders were trailing by 26 points and had left themselves too much to do against the Breakers team that appeared to be growing in confidence. However, to their credit, they continued to battle and only lost the final period by two points (27-25).
As the buzzer signalled the end of the game, the scoreboard confirmed the result as 83-55 in Breakers favour. Coach Round was encouraged by the fact that four MK players reached double figures with Sarah, Round, Courtney Gray, Vanessa Obanor and Jordan Elliott-King scoring 24, 14, 11 and 10 points respectively. He was also pleased with the overall team effort and spirit.
The next game for Breakers is their first road trip against another WEABL-based side in Nottingham.