The RI Gurlies started off their season with a 46-13 win over Innova-Yishun JC on Monday, 23 April.
We were off to a slow start in the first quarter due to a few unsuccessful attempts on offense. However, we were able to capitalize on our opponents’ turnovers, which led us to score on fast breaks. On defense, there was miscommunication on our part and we initially had trouble matching up to find our man, which gave the opponents easy baskets.
Subsequently after coach called for a timeout and gave us instructions, the team stepped up on defense to force many turnovers and steals. At the end of the first half, we led 19-7. Gradually, we were able to adapt and communicate better on court in order to make up for our earlier mistakes on defense, and this was visible by the third quarter.
In the third quarter, we were able to sustain a 14-0 run due to our tight defence coupled with good chemistry on court. Unfortunately, towards the end of third quarter, our dear ANGELA WANG #17 suffered a deep cut to her brow bone and had to sit out for the rest of the match. (get well soon, you fought hard and will be missed <3)
The momentum lasted till the end of 4th quarter and we managed to secure our opening win.
Our centers, SHANNON TIONG #15 and ZHU YEZI #77 were able to effectively defend the paint, not only guarding their opposite centers but also the opposing forwards when they managed to penetrate the defense. They secured many rebounds, as seen by the 9 rebounds from SHANNON and the 8 rebounds from YEZI. SHANNON also had an impressive 4 blocks during the game.
Our performance was not of our highest standard and there is definitely more room for improvement. As it was our first game, it is not unexpected that we would find some hiccups here and there to iron out according to Coach. Not only do we we have to step up on defense, we also have to work on the flow of our attack. Fortunately, we still have time to work on our game and we will continue to give our best for the future matches.
Dream. Team. Fight. Win.