The women’s section of the Varsity Basketball tournament got underway at Wits Sports Hall with four teams participating in the competitions first year.
VUT GET THE FIRST-EVER ‘W’
VUT were first up against the UCT, and the teams’ fates seemed aligned with their male counterparts. The game was initially a very competitive one in the first quarter even though late on in the quarter, VUT did begin to assert their dominance narrowly leading 7-6.
The rest of the match up saw UCT slip further behind with VUT really wearing their favourites tag proudly to eventually round off the first ever Varsity Basketball women’s game with a resounding 67-36 win over UCT. The women from the Cape however did have a much better finish to the game, with the deficit only being five points in the final period of play.
NWU WOMEN SILENCE HOME CROWD
The second and final game of the day in the women’s section saw hosts Wits up against NWU. As it happened, this game had its similarities to the first game, where the team that was losing in the first three quarters looked to claw their way back but in the end it was a little too late. NWU started the better of the two teams, looking more agile and sharp in both offence and defence. Wits, meanwhile, failed to keep up with the intensity for much of the first two quarters, going into the break trailing 21-12.
The coaches during the interval must have had lots to share with the Wits team, which saw their game switch up in the third quarter, where they put a lot more pressure on NWU, who however still edged the quarter by four points. The fourth quarter saw a big effort from Wits, with the support of the crowd, who came alive every time the hosts had the ball within their grasp. NWU in the end did enough to hold off the late Wits onslaught and claim the victory, 56-42. The Witsies would have hoped to have had more time, as they got well into the groove at the death.
By S’fiso Nyawo
