York Women’s systematically beat Northumbria 54 - 10

In a game that wasn’t the usual utter blow-out York still won comfortably, shutting out Northumbria for the last two quarters and showing considerable skill at rebounding on offense. York played with the same skill they’ve shown throughout the year, with several key players stepping up to make up for the fact captain Claire Dinan was unable to play, ensuring another impressive victory.

The game, scheduled to start at six, was postponed for about an hour due to other fixtures over running. This gave both teams a lot of time to warm up, something which Northumbria capitalised on quickly, running lay-up, shooting and passing drills, and thus they appeared to be one of the best trained teams the women have so far come across. This seemed to promise a good close game between the two sides.

Sadly, from a spectator’s point of view, York quickly sunk any hopes of a competitive match. Winning the tip in the first quarter, York went on a nine point run and dominated the quarter from then onwards. Considering the promise Northumbria had shown during their warm-up, their standard of shooting was unexpected to say the least. Air ball after air ball sailed out of bounds and only one player for Northumbria, their shooting guard, managed to score. Forced out of their comfort zone by an impressive zone defence from York, Northumbrian players found themselves immediately double-teamed as soon as they received a pass, and this strong defence led to the erratic shooting from the guests. The quarter finished York 20 – Northumbria 6.

Northumbria’s poor shooting continued in the second quarter, although at times they were joined by a seemingly perplexed York who had their own trouble sinking shots. York, however, did stay in control of the game, especially thanks to Marta Marščionkaitė’s aggressive play under the basket opening up Northumbria’s defence, and good passing helping York find the open woman. A couple of Northumbrian players did attempt to step up and play a stronger defence, including their centre and Daphne Barkshire’s opposite number, but this simply caused more problems for them. Barkshire, accustomed to playing mixed-sex college games, easily handled the pressure and simply changed up a gear. Scoring points, grabbing rebounds, and taking a steal, Barkshire paved the way for York to finish the quarter in the lead by 29 – 10.

Northumbria would not score again for the rest of the game. York’s impressive defensive display continued and delivered the best shut-out that this team has created at home all year. On offense, not to be out done by her teammates, Kate Missenden also attacked the basket, using her height to her advantage, whilst Lydie Mariutto helped set up fast breaks by stealing the ball several times. Barkshire showed no signs of slowing down, much to Northumbria’s frustration, as she again out did her teammates in scoring, grabbed two offensive rebounds and linked up well with Missenden in the key. The team as a whole managed to grab a total of thirteen rebounds, including six on offense. There was a slight blip for York near the end of the quarter as they began trading turnovers with Northumbria but Northumbria failed to capitalise on any of their opportunities and the quarter finished 42 – 10.

The final quarter saw a frustrated Northumbria beginning to needlessly foul York players, especially their number six, who literally threw herself after the ball, wherever it would be, and at times ended up on the floor, much to Kate Smith’s amusement. Sadly, for Northumbria, this didn’t work in their favour at all and Barkshire refused to let up. Barkshire scored more points, grabbed another offensive rebound, and stole the ball three times. Marščionkaitė grabbed another three rebounds to add to her impressive haul for the game, Mariutto took her fifth steal of the game, whilst the rest of the team put in good performances to ease York through the final quarter to a strong victory. Although several York players had good games Barkshire was the stand out player for York, showing she could fill the gap in the team when Dinan was unable to play, and propelled York to victory 54 – 10 over a beleaguered Northumbria.

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