Harbour Breeze have moved into second place on the Women’s Basketball Championship (WBC) Division 1 ladder after splitting their two road games over the weekend.

The Breeze came up short on Friday night against WBC pacesetters Auckland Dream losing 68-54. However they bounced back in style the next day beating Taranaki Thunder 99-50 in New Plymouth.

Friday May 17 - Auckland Dream 68 Harbour Breeze 54

Auckland Dream won the ‘Battle of the Bridge’ at Epsom Girls Grammar School on Friday night beating Harbour Breeze 68-54.

The Breeze made the better start as contributions from Tayla Dalton and Akiene-Tera Reed took them to a 24-19 first quarter lead then 34-31 at the main break.

The Breeze scoring dried up in the third quarter as the Dream took control winning the stanza 18-5 to take a 52-39 advantage with ten minutes to play.

The Dream extended their lead to 17 points before Matangiora Flavell (11 points and 10 rebounds) and the U19 pairing of Emme Shearer and Dalton made baskets. A prolonged revival wasn’t forthcoming as the Dream recorded a fourth straight win.

Auckland Dream 68– C Mellars 18p/11r, K Purcell 12p/14r, N Taylor 12, K Kiriau 9

Harbour Breeze 54– T Dalton 13, M Flavell 11/10r, T Reed 9, D Franklin 8/7r, Yume Negishi 8

 

Saturday May 18 – Taranaki Thunder 50 Harbour Breeze 99

The Breeze shrugged off the effects of the Friday night loss to Auckland Dream, and an early flight to New Plymouth the next morning, putting in a strong performance to defeat Taranaki Thunder 99-50 on Saturday.

Akiene-Tera Reed opened the Breeze scoring in the opening minute as eight different scorers helped them establish a 20-9 quarter-time advantage.

Tayla Dalton (21 points) moved into double figures in the second frame and with Matangiroa Flavell making six points in the period the Breeze had a dominant 43-16 half-time lead.

Ella Fotu, Deena Franklin and Flavell joined the back court duo of Dalton and Shearer in double digits as the Breeze won every quarter on their way to a third win of the season. All the Breeze players got on the scoreboard and the team will look ahead confidently to the return game against Taranaki at AUT Sports Centre on Sunday, with tip-off at 2.30pm.

Preceding that game Harbour Zephyr will entertain Rotorua Lady Geysers at AUT – tip-off midday.

Taranaki Thunder 50– R Sampson 16, T Murray 12p/10r, T Smith 8, A Chubb 7

Harbour Breeze 99– T Dalton 21, D Franklin 16, E Shearer 14, E Fotu 13p/6r/6a, M Flavell 11 

 

In the two other games played in Round 2 the Waikato Wizards completed a successful South Island swing by beating Alloyfold Canterbury Wildcats 68-63 on Saturday and AM I FIT Otago Gold Rush 53-48 the next day.

WBC Division 1 Standings

4-0 Auckland Dream

3-2 Harbour Breeze, Waikato Wizards

2-2 Alloyfold Canterbury Wildcats 

1-3 AM I FIT Otago Gold Rush

0-4 Taranaki Thunder