Werribee Devils were battered into submission by the Geelong Supercats in a 69-59 loss in the Big V basketball women’s division 1 at The Geelong Arena.
The Devils had it all their own way in the first half on Saturday night to lead 36-28, but it all turned pear-shaped in a frustrating third period.
“They were pretty rough; there were some cheap shots off the ball and we got sucked in,” Devils coach Lloyd Klaman said.
“When you go up to a higher level, you’ve got to be able to learn to play through it, but we let it affect us. They had a 23-6 quarter and that’s hard to come back from.”
The Devils showed flashes of their best and worst play against the Supercats.
Of concern is the patchy performance of Devils stars Lisa Troyahn and Jodi Impey.
Troyahn was the Devils’ leading scorer and rebounder against the Cats with 15 points and eight boards, but she turned the ball over nine times.
Impey shot two-from-11 for an 18 per cent return, a far cry from the lofty MVP numbers she was posting as a division 2 championship winner with Keilor Thunder last season.
“It’s not like last year in division 2 where we could show up and be 20-30 per cent off our game and still win easily,” Klaman said.
“We’ve just got to get back to work because there’s a lot of good teams in this league.”
Elisha Burnette was a solid contributor for the Devils with 15 points and three rebounds, while youngsters Alex Moss and Olivia Mitchell continue to stake claims for more minutes. Moss was a defensive terrier with three of her team’s four steals to go with eight rebounds and three assists.
