The Caledonia Gladiators returned to league action today as they made the trip south to Cardiff to face the Met Archers.
The Gladiators came into this one after defeating the Newcastle Eagles at home last Sunday in front of a record crowd for Women’s Basketball in Scotland.
The Archers are yet to win a league game this season but would have looked to change their fortunes against an in-form Gladiators team.
In the first quarter, Ariadna Pujol opened the scoring for the Gladiators, with Hannah Robb adding two more shortly after.
Cardiff then showed some fight as they made consecutive baskets to take a 7-6 lead halfway through the quarter. Hannah Robb and Alix McIntosh then netted two consecutive three-pointers from the same corner to give the Gladiators some breathing space.
The Gladiators continued to impress through the first quarter. Alix McIntosh continued to impress off the bench as she added 6 points. The first quarter ended 15-25 in favour of the Gladiators.
In the second quarter, Cardiff showed that they really wanted to put their stamp on this game as they went on an 11-6 run in the first 5 minutes of the quarter. Jenna Hoschouer led the charge as her two buckets in quick succession got the lead down to just 4. Fortunately, Kirsty Brown was able to give the Gladiators some breathing space as she worked her post moves well to get successive scores.
Heading into halftime, the Gladiators were ahead by 11 points with a score of 35-46.
In the third quarter, the Gladiators came out firing with an immediate 9-0 run. Multiple turnovers from the Archers and some great scoring across the team helped this happen. The third quarter ended 73-53 in favour of the Gladiators. They won the quarter by 10 points as they looked to hold onto this sizable lead in the fourth quarter.
The 4th quarter was a low-scoring affair, but the Gladiators saw out the game to make it back-to-back wins in the league championship.
Yevheniia Putra was awarded today’s MVP with 18 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 assists in just 21 minutes played.
The women’s team return to action at Playsport soon, as they face the Leicester Riders on the 21st of April. Tickets can be bought on the Fanbase app.
