Wallan Panthers’ Women are now sticking together more than ever to reach finals in Division 2.
The side went to the big city at the weekend to face Melbourne University in round 15 of the Big V competition.
The Panthers knew it was going to be a challenging task, even with Melbourne’s athletic players undermanned, but a strong second and third quarter proved otherwise.
The scoreboard was looking favourable for Melbourne by the end of the first quarter with a nine-point lead, but as soon as the Panthers hit the court in the second quarter, it was only looking up for the side.
Wallan stole the competition within the last minutes of the second quarter, putting the score at 37-38.
Melbourne held on to its ambition, adding pressure to the match – so close to taking the game again.
But the pressure from Melbourne worked in Wallan’s benefit, closing the game with a 78-87 win.
Coach Jarrod Bridge said the pressure made the team dig deep.
“We knew early on the game was going to be sort of fast paced because [Melbourne], they’re young, and they’re quite athletic as a team, so we knew we were going to have to keep up,” he said.
“Our defence stepped up, a couple of the girls that kind of played like inconsistent minutes with us really stepped up, and they kind of turned it for us a little bit, which was good.”
The Panthers’ Women will go into a bye next week in round 16, with chances looking good for finals.
“[The team], they’re realising this is probably the best chance some of these girls have had in their careers, and obviously we’ve got some newbies, and then we’ve also got a lot of veterans who have never been to the finals,” Bridge said.
