BASKETBALL: London Sting 78 Ipswich 62. Ipswich Bobcats gave a spirited performance in a hotly-contested match, but could not overcome a rejuvenated London Sting side when they lost 62-78 in the Women's National Conference at Willesden.

BASKETBALL

London Sting 78 Ipswich 62

Ipswich Bobcats gave a spirited performance in a hotly-contested match, but could not overcome a rejuvenated London Sting side when they lost 62-78 in the Women's National Conference at Willesden.

Bobcats made a bright start when inside baskets Line Brodie and Laura Shemming secured an early 4-1 lead.

The home side responded with lay-ups by Charmain Payne and Theresa MacCuish and the Londoners stepped up the pressure. A mid-range basket by Kayleigh Read was Bobcats' only success as they conceded 12 points to trail 6-14 with three minutes of the first-quarter remaining.

Shemming added three points from the free-throw line, but two late baskets by Sting captain Annick Batimba earned London an 18-9 lead as the match went into the second quarter.

The seventh minute of the second quarter was to be full of incident, firstly when Read hit a three-pointer only to collapse under an ankle injury that was to sideline the Ipswich guard for the rest of the match.

Then Sting coach Andrea Norton disputed a 24-second shot clock violation and, although her side had gained possession, the dissent was enough to earn her two technical fouls and ejection from the playing arena.

Ipswich took full advantage when Shemming scored all four resultant free throws and a basket by Charlotte Dunne extended Bobcats' streak to 13 points and keep them in contention at 22-25.

Baskets by Payne and King staved off the Ipswich fightback, but a three-pointer from Brodie ensured that Bobcats would only trail 27-30 at the interval.

Sting stepped up the pressure at the restart and three more baskets by Canadian guard MacCuish eased her side 37-27 ahead.

Bobcats had the best of the closing stages of the quarter when baskets by Shemming and Clark secured a 50-47 lead.

Shemming extended the lead to 52-47 with the opening basket of the final quarter, but Bobcats faced an uphill struggle when the experienced Kirsty Clark picked up her fifth foul in the second minute.

London's pressing tactics enabled them to score 15 unanswered points in a four minute spell to establish a virtually unassailable 62-52 lead. Bobcats recovered to add a further five baskets in the closing stages, but Sting extended their lead in a very high scoring quarter to secure a hard fought 78-62 victory.

Ipswich Bobcats players and scorers: L Shemming 28, C Dunne 11, H Wood 8, L Brodie 7, K Read 5, K Clark 3, K Banns 0, K Button 0, L Lindsay 0.

London Sting players and scorers: T MacCuish 25, C Payne 16, E King 13, A Batimba 10, E Hausen 7, Z Mallet 3, A Raymond 2, L Williams 2, S Davis 0, C Okoli 0.

Haringey 88 Ipswich 29

Ipswich Bobcats cadet team were overwhelmed 88-29 by an extremely athletic and well-drilled Haringey side when they travelled to North London for their opening match of the National League

season.

Ipswich started strongly, when a measured drive by captain Lauren Lindsay and a superb pull-up

jump-shot by Natalie Field gave the visitors a 4-2 lead which they held until the fourth minute.

Baskets by McCarthy, Davis and Simpson then fired Angels to an 8-4 lead and although Lindsay and Field both added to the Ipswich score, Haringey had already secured a 17-8 lead by the end of the first quarter.

Haringey proved unstoppable on the fast break and they added ten points in less than two minutes at the restart.

Lois Nunn ended the barren spell and three measured drives by Lindsay restored her side's

confidence as Ipswich reduced the deficit to 18-32 midway through the quarter, but baskets by Becky Brockman and Alice Dunne were all the visitors could muster as they went into the interval trailing

20-45.

Haringey continued to dominate at the restart and an interminable run of lay-ups saw Angels score 18 points. It was not until the seventh minute that Nunn secured Ipswich's first points of the quarter.

Ipswich trailed 24-68 as the match went into the final period and successive baskets by Lawrence and a third three-pointer by Maskala worsened their plight as they fell further behind at 24-76.

Late baskets by Kerry Moore and Lauren Lindsay could not prevent Haringey running out 88-29 victors, but the new Ipswich coaching pairing of Fay Greaves and Christel Macaudiere can at least be pleased with their team's commitment, and with the fine performance of Lauren Lindsay who secured a personal tally of 15 points.

The cadets season continues with a match against Croydon, which takes place at Maidenhall on Saturday afternoon, tipping off at 4.15pm.

Ipswich Bobcats players and scorers: L Lindsay 15, N Field 4, L Nunn 4, B Brockman 2, A Dunne 2, K Moore 2, V Brownsell 0, M Fenelon 0, S Wedderburn 0.

Haringey Angels players and scorers: R Davis 22, M Simpson 15, M Hall Ramsey 11, A Maskala 11, M Githegi 8, K McCarthy 8, J Lawrence 7, A Donovan 4, J Harris 2, M Kumpai 0.