By Trevor Jackson
IT was a successful double-header road trip for the Mount Gambier Pioneers women, with two wins from two games on the road.
The NBL1 South Round 3 clashes saw the Pioneers up against Casey Cavaliers on Saturday night, before backing up to face Dandenong Rangers on Sunday.
An NBL1 South player-of-the-week performance from Sherrie Calleia over the course of the weekend certainly went a long way to the successful road trip.
Calleia was rewarded after a 33-point game Saturday night, followed by 20 points in Sunday’s clash.
Fans were on the edge of their seats on Saturday night as the Pioneers women claimed a two-point victory over the Cavaliers, 88-86.
It was a tough night, with American import Haliegh Reinoehl out injured, leaving Jasmin Howe to slot into the starting five, a position she is no stranger to.
The Pioneers trailed at every break, with Casey up to the task on its home deck.
Casey held a 10-point lead at the main break but in the final half the Pioneers began to find their range and close the deficit.
By the last break just six points separated the two sides, with the momentum running with the visitors.
The Pioneers began to close the margin and with five minutes gone in the final stanza, hit the lead.
However, with two minutes on the clock scores were tied, then less than a minute later the Cavliers were up by three.
Howe drove to the hoop with a successful layup to close the margin to one point, then a pair of successful free throws to Hannah Young put the Pioneers up by one point.
Casey regained the lead with 22 seconds on the clock but a jump shot to Young reversed that and the Pioneers held a tentative one-point advantage with just 12 seconds of regulation game time left.
As the clock wound down Howe went to the charity stripe and was successful with one free throw, enough to claim the win in dramatic style.
Calleia was impressive with her 33 points, as was Cassandra Brown who notched up a double-double, with 24 points and 11 rebounds.
Shakera Reilly also reached double figures with 17 points.
Sunday’s clash against the Rangers saw the Pioneers out of the blocks fast, turning a 10-point opening-term margin to a 23-point half-time lead.
That came on the back of some solid three-point shooting from the likes of Reilly, Calleia and Brown.
The Rangers managed to win the second half but the Pioneers had done enough to claim the points, with a 92-77 result.
Brown topped the score sheets this time with 24 points, while Calleia was again impressive with 20.
Howe finished with 14 points, while Young added a double-double to her stats, with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Reilly also reached double figures with 12 points.
The two wins rocketed the Pioneers to top spot on the ladder, undefeated after four outings.
