Esther Little stars as Ipswich Basketball Women start season with a huge win in the cup
Esther Little led Ipswich with 32 points against Northamptonshire. Picture: PAVEL KRICKA - Credit: Archant
National Cup Ipswich Women 109 Northamptonshire Titans 67 Ipswich Basketball Club’s Senior Women got their competitive season off to an impressive start with an emphatic 109-67 win against a tough and talented Northamptonshire Titans team.
Ipswich's Amy Linton brings the ball up court against Northamptonshire. Picture: PAVEL KRICKA - Credit: Archant
Ipswich opened the game with an 8-0 run behind three point shots from Esther Little, Ashleigh Pink and a two from Danielle Cazey.
However, the Titans were not phased by the early onslaught and connected on two long range efforts of their own.
Ipswich would continue to play at a fast pace throughout the game, with Harriet Welham getting it going from the perimeter and in transition. By the end of the first quarter Ipswich held a seven point lead, 25-18.
The exhibition continued in the second quarter as Ipswich extended their lead with the bench players all stepping up and making big plays – by the interval Ipswich led 55-34.
- Mixed weekend for Ipswich Men
The third quarter was where the Suffolk side played their best basketball, winning the period 36-13 with the whole team contributing to a dominant performance.
Ipswich led 91-47 as the visitors clearly tired and began to get frustrated.
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In the fourth, Ipswich coach Nick Drane rotated his team heavily as the score wound down, with Ipswich recording a resounding victory in front of a packed Copleston.
England international Little led the way with 32 points, while Pink added 24 and Welham 22.
Drane said: “This was a great start for us. Northamptonshire are a well coached, talented team and this was a great challenge for us.
“Offensively I thought we were excellent at times, but we need to do a much better job of taking care of the ball and we also shot just 44% from the foul line which isn’t good enough – but these are things that we can work on”.
Ipswich have their first league game next Saturday when they make the long trip to the Midlands to face Worcester Wolves.
