By Lachlan Onions
THE Mount Gambier Pioneers women’s team suffered its first defeat of the season on Saturday night as the Ringwood Hawks claimed a 10-point win at Wulanda.
The reigning NBL1 South champions showed their class as on the defensive end from the outset as they held the Pioneers to just 12 first-quarter points and led by seven at the first break.
However, it was the second quarter where the game was won for the Hawks as they scored 30 points and held Mount Gambier to just 15.
As a result, the Pioneers went into the main interval with a 22-point deficit and faced an uphill task to get back in the game.
Mount Gambier managed to score 25 points in the third quarter and had a glimmer of hope when a three-pointer from Sherrie Calleia reduced the margin to 15 with just under a minute left in the term.
However, Ringwood added five points late on and Mount Gambier faced a near-impossible task of pulling back a 20-point margin in one quarter.
Despite having the odds staked against them, the Pioneers fought on and managed to reduce the margin to just eight points with 54 seconds remaining.
Yet this was the closest the Pioneers could get and with the clock the enemy, the Hawks held on to seal the victory.
It was another masterful display from Miela Goodchild as she recorded another double-double with 31 points and 14 rebounds.
Haliegh Reinoehl, Calleia and Isabella Brancatisano all made handy contributions and scored at least 10 points.
It was a tireless performance from Goodchild and Brancatisano as they both played the full 40 minutes against difficult opposition.
For Ringwood, Shelby Britten, Marena Whittle, and Ariel Jones were standout performers for their side.
Britten scored 19 points with 12 assists, while Whittle scored 16 points with 13 rebounds and Jones scored an impressive 27 points and made five of 11 three-point attempts.
The Pioneers remain in the top four on the NBL1 South ladder with five wins and one loss and will look to bounce back next weekend when they take on Geelong and Melbourne in a double-header.
