Canterbury women win

Press, 4 July 1983, Page 22

Canterbury women win

The Canterbury women’s basketball league side effortlessly beat Nelson, .57-36, in Cowles Stadium on Saturday. It was Canterbury’s last home game of the season, but it still has to meet Otago in Dunedin on July 16 in a deferred match.

With seven straight wins, Canterbury is now assured of a place in the national final in Lower Hutt on July 24 and will meet either Tauranga or Hamilton, depending on which of those teams wins the northern division. Both have five wins and one loss — to each other — but Tauranga has the bigger winning margin. Nelson opened the scoring against Canterbury in the third minute, but that was the only time Nelson was ahead in the match. Canterbury started quietly, somewhat tentatively, in what was its first game for almost four weeks.

Su Bennie, who was in the Canterbury starting line-up in the absence of Sue Bennett, had a much improved game, showing better handling skills. Megan Cassidy excelled in the first half for Canterury with a fine shooting display from all round the hoop. She shot five baskets from the floor and scored with four of her five free throws to finish

with 14 points. She used her height well to pull down eight rebounds.

Cassidy’s play in the second spell was a little subdued as she was handicapped, having four fouls against her. Her four baskets in the first half gave Canterbury a vital break. It led, 14-8, after 15min and 26-14 at half-time.

Canterbury continued its dominance throughout the second spell with controlled, fast breaking play against a slack Nelson defence. Decisive passing, a feature of Canterbury’s play, allowed it to penetrate with ease. Canterbury’s shooting percentage, however, was very poor, with many shots astray. Against stronger opposition, Canterbury is capable of shooting more accurately. The Canterbury captain, Patsy Barry, with yet another disciplined display, was named “player of the match.” She stole many good balls, worked relentlessly about the court, and scored some excellent baskets in the second spell. Adrianna Beukenholdt was content to play a subdued, but controlled, role. She shot seven baskets from 15 attempts. Diane Woodhouse mastered the rebounds with nine and played a vital role, linking the midcourt play.

Canterbury’s effort slackened slightly in the second spell and the coach, Phil Whiteside, gave his bench players more court time. Diane Martin worked industriously but lacked accuracy with her goal shots. Nelson players to the fore were the two ball girls, Sue Lines and Lynley Hannen, but both were kept under constant attention by the Canterbury guards. Lines scored only four times from 13 attempts and Hannen with five from eleven. Hannen (eight and Lines seven) also dominated Nelson’s rebound play. Fay Costain and Janie Richards also played useful roles, but unfortunately Richards had to leave the court late in the game with a badly wrenched arm, resulting from some over vigorous play by Woodhouse after Richards had fouled. Most of the remaining Nelson players lacked fitness or had not had sufficient experience for top level basketball. Scoring details were:— Canterbury 57 (A. Beukenholdt 14, M. Cassidy 14, P. Barry 10, S. Bennie 8, D. Woodhouse 5, S. Richards 2, D. Martin 2, A. Pule 2), Nelson 36 (L. Hannen 11, S. Lines 10, J. Richards 7, S. Daniel 6, R.-Laurence 2). Referees: N. Warren and Mrs D. Heslop. f I