October 2009 ~ RHUL BEARS Basketball

3on3 Tournament 2009

Friday, 30 October 2009

BEARS Basketball hosted its annual 3on3 Tournament with the money raised being split between the Club and sports charity Right To Play.

Forty players took part in the tournament, splitting into teams of three. Last year's reigning champions Manish Patel, Lee williamson and Alice Couten were eventually triumphant after a close fought final against Arnold Junior, Romeo McDonald and Scott Hall. The evening also included a 3 Point Shoot-Out which was convincingly won by freshman Nicolas Dumont who scored eight of his ten three point shots.

The event raised over £100 for the charity and the Club hopes to run additional events over the year to raise more money for Right To Play.

RHUL Lady BEARS 85 – 31 University of Reading

Thursday, 29 October 2009

The Lady Bears’ second win of the season resulted in a smashing score against the team from Reading. With an overall advantage of 54 points, girls proudly walked out of the Reading’s Sports Centre and brought the Bear’s glory home.

Although being an undoubtedly stronger team, RHUL Women’s Basketball did, however, experience some problems. Working hard on their defensive technique in trainings, Bears have assumed well-structured offense which requires an equally structured response. For a while, heads down, Lady Bears were confused by the unorthodox playing style of the Reading team and they felt that the figures on the score-board did not indicate their real potential. ‘We’re here to play our game’, said the women’s Head Coach, Natasha Green, ‘So let’s just do what we came here to do and win again’.

It took some time to adjust the defensive settings to pressure Reading’s penetrations and offensive drills, but gradually and owing to a great deal of communication between the girls, the Lady Bears cracked it.

Reading’s squad of eight was disadvantaged in the face of twelve RHUL players; exhaustion hit them quickly. Too slow to return on defense, the team from Reading was severely challenged by the speed of Bears’ fast breaks.

The Lady Bears really pulled it together and finished the game as well as they could. The top-scorers of the game were Shanty Cheung (25), Alice Couten (20) and Elle Hughes (18). Bringing the Lady Bears their third highest point margin in the clubs history.

Lady Bears would like to thank Nick Heff, Romeo McDonald and Kristine Flyvholm for coming to Reading to support the team, as well as Ian Jeffery and Alan Lee who kindly drove the team to Reading and back. Your support is hugely appreciated! Also thank you to Colossus who made a guest appearance at the game and rallied the troops through the second half of the game!!

Words by Kristine Flyvholm

Photos by Kristine Flyvholm

RHUL Lady BEARS 89 – 66 Kingston University

Tuesday, 20 October 2009

The Lady Bears kicked off the new season with a bang, defeating Kingston 89-66 last Wednesday afternoon.

On top of an advantage in height, our team has certainly made use of better communication skills in defence as well as offence. This is particularly striking considering that over half of this year’s team is composed of ‘freshers’. The game against Kingston University was the first opportunity for the old and new members of the Lady Bears to play competitively with one another. The outcome of the game proves that the Bears have taken a lot from the two weeks of pre-season training and established a strong bond and team spirit on as well as off court.

The Bears were able to take advantage of Kingston’s slow return to their half-court in order to set up their defence, thus allowing our players to score easy baskets in fast breaks. The Bears’ point guard, Shanty Cheung, ran relentlessly up and down the court, exhausting the opponents. Unfortunately for Kingston, they arrived with a squad of only seven players to our twelve, so many of them ran out of breath very quickly and did not have time to recover. Due to such disadvantage, Kingston players, tired and confused by the intensity of the game, let their defence slip and left space for our players to penetrate inside the key. Moreover, their offensive drills were met with resistance and pressure from the Bears’ strong defensive structure, denying the ball on the help-side and guarding their players in a man-to-man defence at the same time. Ultimately, the exhaustion of Kingston players resulted in multiple turnovers. The Lady Bears steadily increased the gap on the scoreboard, especially thanks to top shooters Shanty Cheung (23 points), Alice Couten (18 points), Elle Hughes (15 points) and Johanna Svensson (12 points).

The Ladies’ new Head Coach, Natasha Green, was ecstatic with the game result and the amount of effort the girls have put in during training. She is determined to keep the intensity up, especially now that the standard has been set with RHUL Women’s basketball winning their first game of the season with a score to match that of WNBA standards – the highest score yet for the team.

The season has started well for the Lady Bears, with an easy win and without any major injuries. There are things to work on, but there is certainly a solid foundation which can be developed for the coming fixtures.

Words by Anna Dyachenko