A ninety-one-goal thriller went in favour of the Limpopo Baobabs who emerged victorious after a 47-44 win against the Mpumalanga Sunbirds. The Sunbirds were leading 13-10 in the first quarter but a stout-hearted Baobabs side bounced back to level the score at half-time. The Mpumalanga side capitalized on their turnovers to lead the third quarter 35-33 but the Baobabs unleashed their vigor to win the game in the last minute. Baobabs Goal Attack- Ras Zanneke who was the player of the match, was instrumental in cementing the win for her team by scoring the last three goals.
Baobabs coach- Anna Ledwaba praised her side for their admirable performance, ‘‘When we discuss our game plan, I always tell my players to fight until the end. As a soldier, you can’t lose hope. So, I told them that even if the other team has more points than us, they can’t lose hope but keep fighting until they get the results and they did just that today’’. Sunbirds coach- Thembisile Ngwenya was disenchanted, ‘’I’ m very disappointed today because I thought we had it but we lost focus at the end of the game and that caused us to lose the game’’.
The Free State Crinums had a bad day at the office after suffering a 35-45 defeat against the Southern Stings. The Crinums started off well, leading 11-9 in the first quarter but the tables turned from the second quarter. Stings shooter and player of the match- Nichole Taljaard wrapped up the first half with a ninety percent shooting average which also saw the Stings extend their lead by fourteen goals in the third quarter. This was the Crinums first loss in the tournament having won their first two matches.
Stings coach- Annelie Lucas says she did her homework, ‘’The consistency the players gave me definetly made a difference. They stuck to the game plan which is something that we struggled with and we tried to tire them out, which worked. I also watched the other coaches’ teams during the varsity cup and made a few adjustments to my game plan’’. Crinums coach- Burta de Kock also shared her thoughts, ‘’From the beginning, it was tough. It was hot water. The players were not consistent, we know they can do it but the moment something went wrong, we couldn’t capitalize’’.
Another dramatic encounter saw the Diamonds beat the Kingdom Queens 45-43 to break their winless streak. Both teams won two quarters apiece but it was Karien Opperman’s side who made a strong come back in the dying minutes of the game to secure a win.
