Tough week-end for women basketballers

Press, 17 June 1988, Page 24

Tough week-end for women basketballers

The Canterbury women’s basketball team travels to Hamilton for quite a tough double-header assignment this week-end, bringing it to the end of the first round of the national women’s league programme. Canterbury is now in .seventh place after its loss last week-end to the defending champion, Auckland. It has a chance to record its third win in the league when it meets the N.Z. Basketball Institute in Hamilton tomorrow evening but it will need to shoot more accurately than it did against Auckland to have a chance. The Institute team shares fifth place with Southland with three wins each. Southland is also playing Institute on Sunday and Waikato to--morrow afternoon, while Canterbury will play the strong Waikato side on Sunday afternoon.. Waikato currently shares first place with Auckland, having won six matches to date, with just the one loss -to Auckland. Southland will be severely weakened with its Canadian, - import, Lisa Anderson, sidelined, possibly for the remainder of the league,' with a leg injury. There will be several familiar former Canterbury faces

in both opposition sides. The Institute side consists of 13 talented young tasketballers from throughout NeyZealand. The Institute has been a steady drain on Canterbury’s talented youth, including Sonya Akkerman who last year won an American scholarship. Inst season, the Institute side won five tournaments, including the international tournament in Tahiti, while three players went to America with the national team. It finished in sixth place in last year’s league. The talented former Minties guard, Rhoritta Milner, aged 17, this year returned for a second season with the Institute and Is reported to be playing her best basketball, while Moeroa Murphy (formerly of Mairehau High Schoo!) and Jane Lattimore, (Checkers) joined her in Hamilton this season. New Zealand representative Kirstin Daly (Napier) has been to the fore while the tall Shelley Meads, a daughter of a former All Black, Colin Meads, has also impressed. Nikki Budd (North Shote), Pati Bloor (Feilding) and Shelley Norris (Dargaville) have also been prominent. Canterbury will not get

much rest before it meets Waikato on Sunday afternoon. Waikato is coached by Caro- h' lyn Grey, who has had 12 years of national experience, >1 and has gathered together a-Vs solid line-up of former and present national players in- ? eluding Sue Haldane, Veronica Thompson, Ann McLoughlin, Aho Perfect, Lynley Han- . nen and Sheryl George. McLoughlin scored 15 '! points last week-end against , S the Institute, while a former S Canterbury representative, 3 Cara Calvert, contributed a useful 12 points. Calvert, a 1 M former national Under 20 g! player, remained in Hamilton . after attending the Institute .;' last year.

Canterbury will be taking its usual travelling team of nine players, led by Shona Salomen and including its Canadian import, Sheri Starmey.

Mandy Collins and Raylene Forde showed plenty of energy and good form last week, while an Improved effort is expected ■. from Sue Bennett and-: Dianne Woodhouse. Yvonne Crichton-Hill has been off-colour over the last three or, four weeks and hopes to be able to contribute more this week-end.