Reading Rockets Ladies returned to winning ways after defeating both second-placed Loughborough Riders and BA London Lions II in consecutive days.
Rockets now sit fourth in the Women’s National Basketball League Division 1 and have taken their season record to an equal 7-7.
The Riders had been in fantastic form and showed this early on in the game quickly establishing an 8-2 lead over the Rockets in the first 4:30 minutes of the game.
But Reading responded well with Sitota Gines Espinosa getting a trio of baskets to bring the Rockets back level with the Rockets before the end of the quarter, ending with both teams tied on 20 points each.
Loughborough came out extremely fast and quickly were up five points within the first minute in the quarter.
However, this lead was short lived, Candela Hermida and Sitota Gines Espinosa replied with back-to-back baskets of their own to bring the scores back level to 32-32.
Led by Gaila Comesaña, the Rockets went on a 9-0 run to start the second half.
It was a highly impressive third quarter for the Rockets giving them a 12-point lead going into the fourth and final quarter.
Two huge three-point shots from Lecuyer and Dabbs and fast-break layup from Januszewska cut that 12-point Rockets lead to just four.
After a timeout from Coach Haynes, he was able to calm his team down and they were able to go out and establish a lead of nine following a series of quick-fire layups from Captain Candela and a Jessie Ford three-point shot from the wing. This was enough to see off a very-talented Riders team as the Rockets came away with a 70-64 win.
The team did not have too long to celebrate their marvellous win as they were facing a BA London Lions II the very next day – a team who play a very high-intensity brand of basketball and put in lots of hard work.
The Rockets managed to counter act this scoring run from the Lions by showing good aggression in attack and managed to get good looks to score a lot of points, taking the Rockets to a 19-12 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Rockets’ lead was cut down to just three with the score at the end of the half 31-26.
The final quarter was nothing short of thrilling and a true showcase of the talent in the division. Lions guard Sheaia hit two consecutive three-pointers putting the Lions within two points of the Rockets.
With 26 seconds left on the clock, Ijelu tied the game for the Lions with a layup and both teams were level on 55. 21 seconds to go and Comesaña hit a free throw to take the Rockets to lead of just one.
Rockets advanced the ball cautiously up the court, moving the ball around with care before Mia Thompson put the dagger into the Lions hope of victory by sinking a corner three with five seconds to go as Rockets took the four-point victory over the BA London Lions II with the final score 59-55.
Stand-in head coach Charlie Haynes was delighted with the womens’ performances over the weekend: “The girls did an awesome job in practice preparing for a very tough double header weekend.
“The commitment to their own development as well as their commitment to each-other in practice and in games gave us this competitive edge this weekend to battle hard on the court. We are all very proud of the girls.”
The women are back in action next Saturday where they face BA London Lions II away.
