Losses could prove to be costly for Lady Gators
By Simon Cameron June 17 2008 Shepparton News
Shepparton Lady Gators' chances of staying in division two of the Big V women's basketball competition look to be dwindling after the young side was on the end of another pair of losses on a horror weekend road double.
The Gators lost to Whittlesea on Saturday 75-54 and then went down to Blackburn 64-54 on Sunday and will now have to battle hard to ensure they are not relegated to division three next season.
After six consecutive losses and only two victories for the season it is becoming increasingly likely that they will finish last and be relegated next season.
Coach Jodie Danaher said Saturday night's result did not reflect how well the Gators played, however, she was disappointed with their effort on Sunday.
Shepparton led by a point at half-time against topplaced Whittlesea (12-1), but faded in the second half as guard Giulia Di Nunzio (23 points, five rebounds, four assists) took over and was well backed by Sally Braybon's 14-point, 10-rebound haul.
Co-captains Leah French and Jacqui Kitto again led the scoring for the Gators with 18 and 16 points respectively, but it was the Shepparton side's inability to score which hurt it most.
It shot a measly 20-73 (27 per cent) from the field 4-19 (21 per cent) from threepoint land and 10-20 (50 per cent) from the charity stripe.
"I don't think the scoreline really showed how close the game was," Danaher said.
"It was a great game and to the girls' credit they played it out until the end.
"We just couldn't match their experience and they had a lot of scorers out there, from the bench as well."
The Gators started brightly again on Sunday, trailing 30-28 at half-time, but they again could not gain any momentum in the second half.
Kitto (18 points) and French (13) were again the only Gators to hit double figures in scoring.
"From the start of the year we have always struggled with the Sunday games," Danaher said.
"It's more about our heads . . . they get down on themselves, get tired, fatigued. They are not mature enough yet to come out, move on and play basketball."
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