The league leading Kilsyth Cobras ended the Sydney Uni Sparks four game win streak. They eventually beat the home side 79-67 and extended their own winning streak to six in the process.
The Sparks stayed with the Cobras for the first two quarters of the contest, with neither team able to pull away. However, a huge 31 point third quarter enabled the visiting side to create a buffer the Sparks could not get back.
Three point shooting proved the difference in the game. The Cobras shot 37% from beyond the arc with the Sparks only managing to make 2 of 16 at a poor 12.5%. Despite the loss, there were some really positive signs for Sydney Uni against a physical and experienced Cobras outfit. The game was fairly even across every other category. Under a lot of pressure from the Cobras defence, the Sparks were able to limit their turnovers to 11 and shared the ball really well, finishing with 18 assists. They also limited Kilsyth to 9 offense rebounds, a category the Sparks have been working on keeping down throughout the season. Showing improvement across the board with each game played, the Sparks are still sitting in the top four of their conference.
Sydney Uni Head Coach, Karen Dalton, was disappointed with the loss, but pleased with the effort of her young group. “Kilsyth are a really good side and we can learn a lot from that game. We shot the ball poorly, but there were other areas of our game where we are showing huge improvement. There is no doubt the effort is there,” Dalton said.
“We are looking forward to tightening up a few things at training this week before we head down to Canberra this weekend,” she added.
Shanae Greaves was outstanding in the post, setting really effective screens and providing a great target inside. She had a breakout game, finishing with 27 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks. Tahlia Tupaea also had another solid game added 21 points, 7 rebounds and 4 steals.
The Sparks travel to Canberra this weekend to take on the Canberra Capitals Academy at 6pm on Friday 2nd June, followed by BA COE at 7:30pm on Saturday 3rd June.
Sydney Uni’s next home game isn’t until Round 12, on Saturday 24th June, against the Geelong Supercats.
