Ladies' basketball: National League - Division 2 South

Solent Stars 79, Essex Swifts 45

Solent Stars continue to set the pace at the top of the division after an exciting finish to the Women's Basketball Event at Hamble Sports College.

The first quarter saw Essex come out with a zone defence and play with a lot of confidence. Solent still looked a little sluggish defensively and were finding it difficult to break down the Swifts defence.

After five minutes the score was only 6-4 with Vikki Willmore and Sarah Cooper having scored for Stars but with Solent having missed several easy chances inside the key.

The teams continued to trade baskets with Swifts executing their half court offence well against Solent's pressure man to man defence. Syngellakis scored six points inside and then perimeter shots from Claire Wiseman and Eszter Ball took Solent into a five-point lead. This lead was sustained by a jump shot from Christie Rourke but the eight points scored by Camp ensured that Essex were still in touch as the quarter finished.

Solent started with more purpose in the second quarter as Willmore and Carrie Jones scored off Essex turnovers. However Swifts came back with three points from Andrews and points from the line to reduce the deficit to ten. Another jump shot from Ball and further points from Rourke and Wiseman took Solent into a twelve point lead at the break.

The half time interval was used to emphasise the player and ball movement required to break down the Swifts zone defence.

Solent continued to rotate their players in the third quarter, and still led by twelve points after five minutes of the third quarter. Then, a 14-nil points run sparked by three points from Wiseman and then eight points in a row for Rourke took Solent into a lead of over twenty points. The quarter ended with a second three pointer from Wiseman.

The fourth quarter again saw Essex fight back although Solent failed to focus at the defensive end and turn the ball over leading to fast break opportunities for Swifts. Coach Ball went five for five, and that led to an immediate improvement. Brownsell stole the ball and went coast to coast, followed by transition points from Willmore and a great fast break basket from Syngellakis off an assist from Jones. Solent continued to rotate all their players on court and ran out winners 79-45.

"I thought Essex played very well today and they posed problems for us throughout the game. We are going to have to get used to teams playing more zone against us in the second half of the season and all out players need to be able to read the game successfully. However after we remembered to push the ball down the floor and stepped up defensively we had a better offensive second half" commented coach Ball after the game.

"Claire Wiseman showed her ball savvy today understanding how to break down the Essex zone and shooting with confidence from the perimeter."

"We have a series of away games coming up for us starting with Cardiff next week. Although they are at the bottom of the league it is important we continue to play with intensity and intelligence."

Solent scorers: Wiseman 16, Syngellakis 14, Rourke 12, Willmore 10, Cooper 8, Jones 8, Ball 4, Brownsell 4, Powell 3.