WERRIBEE Devils dished up elements of their best and worst in a streak-stretching 62-58 win over Coburg Giants in the Big V basketball women’s division 1 at the Werribee Sports and Fitness Centre on Saturday night.
The Devils were ice-cold one minute, white-hot the next, but had the composure down the stretch to come away with a sixth consecutive win and did it without the usual heavy reliance on stars Lisa Troyahn and Emma Coyne.
In the first quarter, the Devils bore little resemblance to the team that had entered on a five-game winning run. They were terrible on the offensive end, going two-from-17 from the field and scoring just seven points for the period.
Luckily for the Devils, their defence repelled most of what the Giants’ big and strong line-up threw at them and trailed by only four at the break.
Despite improved numbers in the second, coach Lloyd Klaman was not satisfied at half-time. “We had a pretty poor first half. We were lucky to be only down two going into half-time.”
The Devils responded with a third-quarter blitz. They went on a 15-0 run midway through the period to open up a healthy lead.
It was a lead they would keep, despite Troyahn fouling out and Coyne having little impact on the offensive end.
Guard Morgan Owen meandered through the first half, but produced a stunning turnaround after half-time with a match-winning 19 points.
The Devils will host their annual McGrath Foundation ‘Pink Night’ on Saturday night to raise funds for breast care nurses.
The women’s team will host Mornington Breakers from 6.30pm, while the men will be aiming to snap a two-game losing streak against the Melbourne Tigers at 8.30pm.
BIG V RESULTS
Men: Diamond Valley Eagles 95 Werribee Devils 81
Women: Werribee Devils 62 Coburg Giants 58
