Solent Stars' women made amends for a disappointing pre-Christmas showing against London Towers by beating UWIC Stealers 62-47 in Cardiff.

With Shelley Steele laid low by illness and Rosie Chase ruled out by family commitments, juniors Holly Over and Emily Brookfield were drafted into the squad.

After a slow start, it was UWIC who broke the deadlock in the third minute against a hesitant Solent side.

It took Stars until the sixth minute to settle with Kath Hield scoring four points after Nicki Scrivener had bagged one out of two from the free throw line.

Christie Rourke then chipped in with an impressive seven points in the space of a minute while, defensively, Stars were reliant on the impressive Estzer Ball, who managed 23 rebounds in the game.

Although things went far from smoothly in the second quarter, Solent managed to stretch their one-point lead to six points, 27-21, thanks to Scrivener, Ball and Hield.

They looked to have finally hit the groove in the third quarter with Jodi Jerram and Rourke working well together as guards, but a lapse in concentration allowed Stealers to score nine points in quick succession, forcing coach Ken Walton to call another time out.

The final quarter saw some outstanding play by Stars with Jerram scoring her first points from the floor, Ball dominating the rebounds and Hield managing to get the inside game working.

Solent scorers: Christie Rourke 16, Eszter Ball 15, Kath Hield 11, Nicki Scrivener 9, Jodi Jerram 8, Holly Over 2, Emily Brookfield 1.