The Mpumalanga Sunbirds caused one of the biggest upsets after beating the Tornados 46-33 in Rustenburg this morning. Sunbirds’ coach- Thembisile Ngwenya made five changes to her squad and opted to rest Wing Defence- Hope Sibiya for the first three quarters of the game. The Tornados had the right mind-set coming into this game, leading 14-12 in the opening quarter but failed to execute their game plan throughout the match. The Sunbirds shooters- Alyssa Trahms, Atacia Mbuyane, Zanele Mokoena and Palesa Mbukwana were firing from all cylinders in their shooting circle and shutting down the Tornados defensive efforts which won them the game.
However, this defeat doesn’t affect the Tornados number one spot on the log but coach- Danlee Mathews believes focus is key, ‘’My girls were not clinical enough today and I don’t know what happened but I think the Sunbirds came out to prove a point today. They played very well, they were very clinical and they kept their cool where at times, my girls were all over the show. If you want to play in this league, you need to be consistent, clinical and that’s definitely something my girls need to take responsibility for’’.
In the other match, the Baobabs got back to winning ways following their 54-50 victory against the Kingdom Queens. It’s been a challenging start in the second leg for the Baobabs who lost by small margins against the Comets and the Diamonds. The Baobabs also had to pick themselves up ahead of this encounter after losing one of their star players- Theoner Mthombeni due to injury. Anna Ledwaba’s troops were solid at the back and more clinical upfront which saw them maintain their lead from the second quarter right until the end.
Meanwhile, the Free State Crinums came out tops in a defensive game against the Kingdom Stars after winning 48-39. Both teams were separated by just two points on the log coming into this game but this victory sees them retain their number three spot in Division one. The Crinums bounced back after trailing by two goals in the first quarter and were leading by one goal in the second and third quarter but the Stars were still very much in it at this stage. The last five minutes were a game changer as the Crinums pulled away after Claudia van der Berg and Xandri Fourie rose to the occasion in the Crinums shooting circle despite the Stars having a superior goal percentage of ninety-one.
