By Trevor Jackson
THE Mount Gambier Pioneers women made short work of their Melbourne Tigers opponents in Saturday night’s NBL1 South clash at the Icehouse.
Despite a relatively even and low-scoring second half, the Pioneers did the damage early, with a strong first half to set up the victory.
Hannah Young was in good form, with 12 points in the opening term to help the side out to handy lead.
In fact, with less than 10 seconds on the game clock, Young finished the term in style with a three-point bomb to head to the break 12 points clear.
Haliegh Reinoehl returned after a short break for injury and hit the floor running, with a two-point jumper early in the second term to stretch the margin.
A pair of threes to Shakera Reilly and Sherrie Calleia late in the term added to the coffers and when Cassandra Brown completed a regulation layup, the lead had blown out to 30 points on the back of a dominant 23-5 quarter.
That all-but sealed the game for the Pioneers but with two quarters to go there was still no time to relax.
However, from there the Tigers found some form and lost the second half by just one point, clearly not enough to make inroads into the lead after such a strong first half by the Pioneers.
In the end the Pioneers cruised to a 74-43 victory, Young finishing with a team-high 24 points.
Reilly added 15 points, Brown 11 and Calleia 10.
The result sees the Pioneers remain on top of the ladder, with a 7/1 win/loss record so far.
This weekend the women hit the road for a double-header against a pair of top-10 teams.
The Pioneers face the ninth-placed Frankston Blues on Saturday night, a team they defeated in the third game of the season by a close seven points.
Sunday sees a hitout with the third-placed Nunawading Spectres, who come off a string of victories and are sure to push the Pioneers to the limit.
