By Lachlan Onions
THE Mount Gambier Pioneers women’s team continues to go from strength to strength as it claimed victory over the Knox Raiders on Saturday night.
The clash was even to begin with as both sides traded blows before the Pioneers stamped their authority with what has now become a trademark scoring run.
Mount Gambier went on a 21-6 run to take a comfortable 32-16 lead at quarter time.
The Pioneers continued to dominate in the second quarter and stretched the lead out to 27 points early in the period.
Mount Gambier was shooting the lights out at this stage as it had scored 47 points after just over 12 minutes of play.
However, Knox refused to be beaten and kept itself alive as it forced stops on the defensive end and reduced the deficit to 17 points at the break.
There was little to separate the two sides in the third quarter as neither team could dictate play and the Pioneers went into three-quarter-time with a healthy 16-point lead.
The Raiders had a glimmer of hope midway through the final term as they reduced the lead to just nine points and a miracle comeback remained on the cards.
However, the Pioneers responded and stretched the lead out to 13 points with two and a half minutes to play.
Despite the setback, the Raiders continued to push on and trailed by just six points with 35 seconds on the clock.
This was as close as the visitors could get as the home side showed its composure late on to draw fouls and held on to claim an 88-80 win.
The clash pitted two of the conference’s best players against each other in Miela Goodchild and Alicia Froling.
Goodchild continued her blistering form as she scored 28 points, while the Raiders’ Froling recorded 22 points and 12 rebounds.
Mount Gambier Captain Cassandra Brown made a welcome return to the floor after missing the last month through injury and posted 14 points and nine rebounds for the Pioneers.
She was supported by Haliegh Reinoehl and Isabella Brancatisano, who both made solid contributions.
Reinoehl scored 19 points, with Brancatisano contributing 14 points as well.
Mount Gambier is currently third on the ladder with eight wins from 11 games and will look to make it five wins on the trot when it hosts the Kilsyth Cobras on Friday night.
