First-year Chantelle Swart made her starting debut today as Proteas players Lenize Potgieter and Izette Lubbe made their returned to the Tuks team for their Round Two clash with Maties.
It was a reserved start by both sides with neither side wanting to make mistakes. Tuks had a slim 11-8 lead at the end of the first quarter. It was a strong performance by the Maties side in the second with an interesting contest between Carli Swart and Shadine vd Merwe in defence.
There was good composure showed by the goal shooter, Swart. On the opposite side, Chantelle Swart showed great composure for a debutant as she played alongside her role model, Potgieter, in a combination which worked equally well for the Pretoria side. The score was a reflection of this as it was 24-24 going into the second half.
It was a close encounter, showing the talent within both sides in the third quarter. Both teams were all square with 39 points each heading into the final quarter. The Tuks side brought in the experienced Melissa Kotze who brought about stability in the Tuks attack but a spirited Maties maintained a narrow lead until the power play was called and saw UP-Tuks draw level. From then on it was the Melissa/Lenize show as the pair showed their experience and pulled ahead from the Maties in the final two minutes, with the second power play also being dominated by Tuks. Maties ran out of steam as Pukke charged on. The final score 65-48.
FNB Player of the Match: Shadine vd Merwe (Tuks)
Teams:
UP-Tuks: Ine-Marie Venter, Melissa Kotze, Tshina Mdau, Marlize d Bruin, Shadine vd Merwe, Juzelri Garbers, Jasmine Ziegelmeier, Shongile Hlongwane, Lenize Potgieter, Dima Mogoale, Chantelle Swart, Izette Lubbe
Maties: Juline Rossouw (Captain), Jo Prins (Vice-Captain), Charmaine Baard, Cari Swart, Somari Els, Sasha-Lee Petersen, Stephanie Brandt, Annerine Snyman, Abeline Olivier, Carla Werth, Megan Gossman, Leanne Nigrini.
By Theriso Lethuloe
